Middle East News
ANALYSIS
By Abdul Jalil Mustafa Mar 25, 2007, 15:03 GMT
Amman - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may be carrying proposals for pushing forward the Arab-Israeli peace process, but governments of the region should avoid 'excessive optimism' as to the outcome of the new US round of diplomacy, Arab politicians and analysts said Sunday.
'We have to avoid excessive optimism regarding what may come out of Rice's new tour,' Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee at Jordan's lower house of parliament, Mohammad Abu Hudaib, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'However, we do believe that the Arabs can put pressure on the United States to do something at this juncture, because Washington is in a state of crisis in Iraq and, therefore, it needs their help to come out of this plight,' he said.
Abu Hudaib considered Israeli and US attitudes towards the newly- forged Palestinian coalition government as 'non-reassuring.'
He alluded to Israel's avowed refusal to deal with the new Palestinian cabinet and Washington's declaration that it would only deal with the non-Hamas ministers.
The US Secretary of State met on Saturday in the Egyptian city of Aswan with foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which form the pillars of the so-called moderate Arab camp.
Addressing a press conference earlier Sunday, Rice sidestepped a question about the nature of moves the United States intended to carry out to push forward the Middle East peace process.
But she said it would try to develop a 'common ground' between the Palestinians and Israelis for implementing the quartet's roadmap.
An address delivered by Jordan's King Abdullah II before the US Congress on March 8 appeared to be the catalyst for Rice's new Middle East tour, Arab diplomats said.
The monarch urged the United States to play a 'historic role' toward the conclusion of a Palestinian-Israeli peaceful settlement, warning all parties will be 'at risk' should a solution leading to the setting up of an independent Palestinian state not materialize.
'His Majesty's address was designed to alert the US legislators to the fact that the Palestinian question, which represents the core of all conflicts in the region, should be given priority over the situation in Iraq,' Abu Hudaib said.
The Aswan meeting comes ahead of the Arab summit conference scheduled for Wednesday in Riyadh, where Arab leaders are expected to re-launch the Arab Peace Initiative that was adopted for the first time by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002.
Israeli leaders have demanded an amendment of the Arab blueprint, and Arab editorialists and commentators expected Rice to exercise pressure on Arab leaders to introduce certain changes into the Arab peace plan at the Riyadh summit.
'I don't believe Arab leaders will accept any pressure to change the Arab initiative,' Abu Hudaib said, citing the 'difficult situation' faced by the US administration due to pressure by the Congress to pull out from Iraq.
The Arab peace plan envisages extending recognition to Israel by all Arab states only after it pulls out from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War, including East Jerusalem.
Israel however wants to normalize ties with Arab countries before committing itself to any territorial concessions.
Taher Adwan, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper al-Arab al- Yawm, also indicated his belief that Arab leaders would reject any US pressures to change the Arab initiative.
'Washington used to put pressure on Arab leaders ahead of any new summit, but there are precedents where Arab summits did not respond to such dictations,' he said.
Adwan discerned a 'different US attitude this time, as far as the Palestinian-Israeli peace process is concerned.'
'However, Rice's visit to the region ahead of the Riyadh summit gives the conference added significance and should prompt Arab leaders to adopt strong positions that affect the US agenda and force it to change course in the right direction,' he said.
One of the impressions widely perceived in the Arab world is that the US secretary of state will be seeking support for the West's standoff with Iran over the nuclear issue.
'I cannot exclude this as part of the US manoeuvre, but any prudent politician must come to the conclusion that any war against Iran will be catastrophic for the entire region,' Abu Hudaib said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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