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| Middle East |
| Shuttle talks between Sharon, Prince Abdullah |
| 2002-03-09 |
The crown prince outlined his initiative to the envoys, who relayed it yesterday to Sharon. The proposal calls for Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 lines in return for full diplomatic relations, normalized trade, and security guarantees from Arab countries. "Abdullah said he genuinely wants to see a termination of the conflict," said an official present at the envoys' meeting with Sharon. "At this point he just has a series of ideas, but by the time the plan is fleshed out, he doesn't want to have any issues left out, including the refugee issue." It'll be interesting to see if it ever gets out of the talks stage. At this point, the Israelis are more inclined to buy peace - probably the impetus behind the wave of boomers and shooters in the past week - and the Saudis are inclined to come up with something to make themselves look like good guys after 9-11. Having started the ball rolling, neither side can let go until they can point to the other as having derailed the process. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |