BEIRUT, May 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Foreign ministers of the follow-up
committee of the Beirut Arab summit held a meeting here on Saturday
to discuss how to promote the Arab peace initiative adopted at an
Arab summit in March this year, the official NNA news agency
reported.
   The meeting was attended by foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Yemen and the
Palestinian National Authority, and Arab League Secretary General
Amr Moussa.
   The Arab peace proposal, based on ideas of Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz, calls for the normalization of Israeli-
Arab ties in exchange for the latter's full withdrawal from Arab
lands occupied during the 1967 Mideast war.
   Mahmoud Hammoud, Lebanese foreign minister and the chairman of
the conference, said in an opening statement that "recent Israeli
actions form obstacles for the Arab peace initiative and raise
questions about the possibility to make other efforts for Mideast
peace process in the short term."
   At a press conference after the meeting, Hammoud reiterated that
Arab states have set about promoting the Arab peace initiative
through contacts with the United States, the European Union (EU),
the United Nations and other countries concerned.
   "We have agreed during the meeting that the initiative should be
regarded as a package and any future peace move must take it into
account," he added.  Enditem