AMMAN, Jordan, March 29 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for March 29:
The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi said Thursday the two-day Arab summit in Riyadh is not expected to emerge with anything new, but the next few weeks might bring something. This summit, it argued, was held to reactivate the 2002 Saudi-sponsored Arab peace initiative for the Middle East and expected the leaders to adopt mechanisms to achieve this objective and to launch a diplomatic offensive to "convince the other side," in reference to Israel. The independent Palestinian-owned daily said it wouldn't be surprised if Saudi officials contacted Israeli counterparts to persuade them to accept the initiative and work towards its implementation. It added that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had prepared for such contacts between some Arab countries that don't have ties with Israel -- Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- to sit and talk to Israeli officials while Palestinian and Israeli officials negotiate. The paper stressed this summit was convened to launch a "normalization process with Israel under the cover of the Arab initiative," as well as consolidating the "new Sunni alliance" for a future political or military confrontation with Iran.
Saudi Arabia's al-Riyadh daily praised in its editorial the Saudi role in hosting the Arab summit, saying it might be a junction between a state of despair and creating better opportunities for the Arabs and Muslims. The semi-official paper said, "We either hand Israel the keys of our existence and submit to regional and international intervention ... or we move forward in more than one step in admitting our negligence in Iraq, our interference in Lebanon and neglecting Somalia." Such turbulence, it argued, had allowed Israel to bargain over the peace initiative. The mass circulation said the international and Muslim leaders and representatives who attended the summit were witnesses of history. Peace, it said, is an Arab project seen by the world as the pathway to create opportunities that can be achieved. "This is the first time the fair-minded see it as a positive initiative, indicating we are capable of creating other projects for all the cases of turbulence in the Arab countries," the paper said.
Syria's official Tishreen said what has come out of the Arab summit brings hope and optimism for the problems in the region, especially in reactivating the Arab peace initiative without amendments. Sticking to the text of the 2002 initiative, it said, completely cuts off the road to U.S.-Israeli attempts to change its contents and reaffirms Arab desire for peace based on international resolutions and standards. The state-run daily blasted attempts by Israel and the United States, ahead of the summit, to change the initiative to scrap the right of return for Palestinian refugees. It also criticized Israeli demands to launch Arab-Israeli normalization before starting peace negotiations, saying normalization has always been an Israeli objective to end the peace process. "The Arab summit aborted attempts by the Israeli government to play with the Arab peace initiative and placed the foundations that guarantee activating this initiative without changes," it said. "This in itself is a prominent sign of the summit's trend toward common Arab action and reactivating it on all levels, which will lead to real security and stability in the region."
The United Arab Emirates' al-Khaleej said the complicated political and economic problems plaguing the Arabs cannot be resolved with a magic wand, and the Arab masses are not expecting the summit to do so. The pro-government daily added in its editorial the Arab people would have a glimmer of hope, however, if the summit decides to practically implement its resolutions. It said while the leaders might not be able to force Israel to accept the peace initiative, they can take punitive measures against it, such as decreasing contacts and stopping normalization with the Jewish state. The Arabs can also go the U.N. Security Council with their case, regardless of U.S. objections, and protest against the parties that don't deal with the new Palestinian national unity government, it said. "The Arabs are facing a fierce attack," it opined, adding it hoped the summit would adopt decisions to face the attacks and put the Arabs on the right track.
Egypt's al-Gomhuria criticized the U.S. secretary of state for urging the Arabs, ahead of their summit, to extend a hand to Israel and assure it of acceptance for its continued existence as a state in the Middle East. The semi-official daily said in its editorial Rice's call in itself poses a "scandalous fallacy" that shows the Middle East crisis as being based on Israel's worry over its future that requires Arab assurances. "The reality of the fact confirms that Israel is the basis of all wars and turbulence in the Middle East, starting with the rape of Palestine and other Arab countries and ending with the destruction of Iraq, backed by a nuclear war arsenal and other arms supplied by the United States that urges the Arabs to assure Israel!" it complained. The mass circulation insisted it is the Arabs who need assurances and to regain security and stability in the region in order to raise the standard of living of their people by ending the Israeli and U.S. occupations of Arab territories.
