CAIRO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The Arab foreign ministers
will hold an emergency meeting on June 17 to come up with a common Arab stance
on U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo University, a source at the
Cairo-based Arab league (AL) said Monday.
"An emergency meeting will be held at Arab League on
June 17 to discuss Obama's speech," the source told Xinhua.
"The meeting will discuss Obama's proposal to stop
building Israeli settlements and resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
according to the two-state solution," the source said.
The agenda also involves a meeting between Arab Peace
Initiative Committee and Quartet delegates, the source said.
Obama said in his speech last Thursday that the
United States seeks "a new beginning" between the Muslim world and itself, in a
bid to defuse the U.S.-Islam tensions during the past eight years caused by his
predecessor George W. Bush administration's anti-terrorism campaign.
Meanwhile, Obama reiterated the U.S. support for the
two-state solution, urging Israelis to stop settlements and Palestinians,
particularly Hamas, to abandon violence.
Obama also urge the Arabs to develop the Arab Peace
Initiative, a Saudi-proposed peace offer.
"The Arab states must recognize that the Arab Peace
Initiative was an important beginning, but not the end of their
responsibilities," he said.
The Arab Peace Initiative, which embodies the
two-state guideline, was adopted in the Arab summit held in Beirut in 2002.
It offers the Arab acceptance of the Jewish state in
exchange for an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967
borders.