By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh on Tuesday. The talks dealt with US proposals to start indirect Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and on bilateral issues of common interest.
The talks, in which Abbas received “input from King Abdullah” on the renewed peace efforts ahead of his meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday and visiting US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell on Friday.
But the efforts to revive the Middle East peace process took another blow on Tuesday after Jewish occupiers torched a mosque in the West Bank town of Lubban Ash-Sharqiya.
Palestinian officials said Israel had warned them on Monday about the possibility of an attack by Jewish occupiers angered by the army’s demolition of six partially built structures in Shavei Shomron settlement near Nablus.
A statement issued by Abbas’ office condemns the burning of the mosque and said the attack threatened efforts to revive the peace process.
Asked about other subjects discussed by King Abdullah and President Abbas, a source said the US commitment given to Abbas that a sovereign Palestinian state would be created within two years was also touched on during their discussions. The Israeli rejection of Mitchell’s proposal to withdraw troops from Palestinian-ruled sections of the West Bank was also discussed. Israel had told the US that it could not guarantee such a move before beginning direct peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
“Other issues such as efforts on regional Arab reconciliation in a bid to strengthen support for Palestine and Saudi support for the Palestinian people were also discussed,” he added. The Kingdom, he said, had pledged to continue supporting the Palestinian people financially as and when required. The total amount of Saudi donations to support the Palestinian Authority is in excess of $1.1 billion. Riyadh also gives budgetary assistance to Palestine.
On the question of Israeli settlements, the source quoted Abbas as saying: “We have a very hard time convincing the Israeli administration of the need to withdraw from the territories, the need to solve the Jerusalem issue and the situation involving the refugees”.
Arab News
