Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (top, L) and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (top, R) arrive in Riyadh March 27, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    RIYADH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Arab leaders are arriving in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for a summit due on March 28-29, during which a Riyadh-proposed Arab peace initiative is expected to be the centerpiece as the United States and Israel have recently shown interest to the plan.

    At a press conference on Monday after the opening session of the Arab foreign ministerial meeting in preparations for the upcoming 19th Arab summit, Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa and host Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal have confirmed the expectation, while stressing that no amendment will be there on the Arab peace initiative.

    The Arab peace initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia and adopted in the 2002 Beirut Arab summit, calls for Israel's pullout from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of ties with Arab states.

    The upcoming summit will provide a good opportunity to Arableaders to take a unified stance for facing regional challenges, la-Faisal said, adding an Arab national security paper was prepared by the AL general secretariat and all Arab countries have been giving attention to the document.

    ISRAEL SHOWING FLEXIBILITY TO SAUDI INITIATIVE

    After discussing the Saudi Arabia-proposed initiative with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on March 11, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet that he was prepared to treat the Saudi proposal seriously, altering a previous position to reject it since the plan was worked out in 2002.

    Olmert considered the initiative as a basis on which Israel and the Palestinians return to negotiation table, voicing hope that the Arab summit in Riyadh would reinforce the positive elements in the plan.

    "We sincerely hope that at the summit of the Arab leaders in Riyadh the positive elements in the Saudi initiative will be emphasized and would maybe allow an opportunity to strengthen the chances for negotiations with the Palestinians on its basis," Olmert said.

    Olmert's popularity has been falling following last summer's Israeli conflict with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and corruption allegations. The Israeli prime minister has the hope to score on the Palestinian front.

    Israel's more flexible stance towards the peace plan offered a glimmer of hope for restarting the peace process which was bolstered by the installation of a new Palestinian national unity government in mid-March.

    ISRAEL'S MODIFICATION REQUEST TO BE DEBATED

    Although Israelis repeatedly confirm that the Arab peace initiative contains positive elements and they are showing more flexibility towards the peace offer, they declared reservations to clauses in the proposal concerning the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pointed out that two articles are "very problematic for Israel" -- one specifies the return of Palestinians who fled or were forced out in 1948 and the other rules out their permanent settlement in the Arab states where they or their descendants currently live.

    The Israeli request for modification to the peace plan has met with rejections by many Arab countries and organizations, including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, the Arab League as well as Palestinians themselves.

    It is highly expected that the thorny issue will be taken up again during the summit which will draw together Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haneya. It will be the first time for the two Palestinian leaders to present side by side in the international arena.

    However, it is not clear whether Hamas, a "terrorist group" labelled by the United States and Israel, will endorse the Arab peace initiative.

    PALESTINIAN ISSUE REMAINS CORE TO MIDEAST PEACE

    Since the Palestinian issue is a core of the Middle East problems, the status of the new Palestinian coalition government facing Israeli and Western boycotts will remain obstruction to a possible breakthrough in restarting the Arab-Israeli dialogue.

    The Palestinian national unity government, which groups archrivals of Hamas and Fatah as well as other parties, was sworn in on March 17, replacing a former Hamas-led one which was boycotted by the West and Israel.

    The coalition was set up in accordance with a power-sharing agreement reached between the two rivals during their Mecca talks in early February under the auspices of Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Middle East.

    Palestinians hope the first ever coalition can end factional infighting to restore security in the Palestinian territories and gain recognition of the West to end the crippling financial sanctions.

    Political program of the government gives moderate President Abbas of Fatah the authority to negotiate peace, but Israel has said it decided to shun the coalition while being ready to deal with Abbas.

    Israel has repeatedly accused the coalition of failing to explicitly recognize Israel and renounce violence as requested by the Quartet, known as the Middle East mediators grouping the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

    In light of the Israeli "double standard" policy towards the Palestinians, there are differences among Arab countries over relaunching the Beirut peace initiative, or renewal of Arab dialogue with Israel.

    Reliable sources revealed that a committee headed by Saudi Arabia will be set up to follow up the Arab peace initiative at the upcoming Arab summit.

    by Wang Jinying Jiang Xianming