|
Arabs offer Israelis olive branch
Arab leaders meeting in Sudan have promoted a land-for-peace offer to Israel, even as Israelis voted in polls that could give their next government a mandate to impose permanent borders with the Palestinians. The annual Arab League summit demanded the opposite approach - a return to Middle East peace talks sponsored by international mediators - and leaders criticised threats to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority when Hamas takes office. The leaders also reached a summit deal to provide funding for cash-strapped African Union troops in Sudan's Darfur region amid international pressure to accept the dispatch of a UN force.A draft final communique, which is not expected to undergo substantial changes, reaffirms an Arab initiative of 2002 which offers Israel peace in exchange for withdrawal from land occupied in the Middle East war of 1967. Israel rejects the offer. The statement calls on donor countries to respect the electoral choice of the Palestinians, who gave Hamas a sweeping victory in January, and fulfil commitments to give them aid. Foreign ministers meeting at the weekend recommended their governments maintain aid to the Palestinian Authority at $55 million a month and waive Iraqi debt worth billions of dollars. Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian foreign minister, said: "It is basically to continue with the funding as it has been." Posted by: Fred 2006-03-30 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=146919 |