New peace proposal gives Saudis a leadership role in Arab world

The Saudi peace initiative has, for the first time since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, projected the normally ultra-cautious kingdom into the leadership of the Arab world.

Twenty-nine years ago Saudi King Faisal took the lead in cutting oil supplies to Western countries as a means of imposing a ceasefire on Israel in the war with Egypt and Syria. Ten days ago, Crown Prince Abdullah, who took over from his ailing half-brother in 1995, proposed a peace settlement involving "full normalisation" on the part of the Arabs in exchange for "full withdrawal" by Israel from Arab territory captured in 1967.

To make it absolutely clear that he is now at the helm of the Arab ship of state, the crown prince also warned the US that the elimination of the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, would "shake the Arab and Muslim world and destroy the credibility of anyone who was involved in this move. Forever." The Saudi ruler added: "I do not believe that the war on terrorism applies to Iran and Iraq." He urged the US to either assume the primary role in Middle East peacemaking or bow out and "let others do it". This was an obvious reference to Europe.

While the crown prince said he would formally table his proposal during the Arab summit at the end of March, it was publicly presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday night by the Saudi ambassador, Mr Fawzi Shobokshi. He said the proposal shows the "world that the Arabs are calling for peace, for good neighbourly relations". While most Arab rulers have expressed their support for the Saudi initiative, Syria has refrained from official comment.

The Beirut daily al-Safir, which reflects the views of Damascus, pointed out that the proposal embodies the longstanding Syrian position and called for elaboration. Crown Prince Abdullah said this will come during the Arab summit.

Arab commentators have pointed out that the crown prince has shifted the focus from the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict and put the peace process back on the "land-for-peace" track. Furthermore, he launched his initiative as a pan-Arab plan to put an end to Israel's efforts to weaken its remaining Arab antagonists, the Palestinians and Syrians, by negotiating separate deals with each. The crown prince has been moving towards seizing the initiative since last spring when he called on the US to intervene decisively to end the violence and relaunch the peace process. When Washington declined, he rejected invitations to the White House.

In August, he wrote a personal letter to President Bush, suggesting it was time for the two countries to part company. During the recent Gulf Co-operation Council summit the crown prince called for a basic rethink of the Arab approach. By presenting his own proposal, he has done the rethinking for his fellow rulers.