Egypt FM Denies Reports of Saudi Peace Initiative

Published September 10th, 2001 - 03:00 GMT

Egyptian Foreign Minister denied on Sunday the existence of a Saudi peace initiative aimed at putting an end to almost one year of the ongoing escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Al Ahram Daily.

“There are ideas to come up with a unified Arab stand to deal with the deteriorating situation in the territories,” said Maher Sunday in Cairo where Arab foreign ministers gathered to attend the annual meeting of the Arab League.

Diplomats said late last week that the Gulf Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, were working on an Arab initiative aimed at ending "Israel's aggression" against the Palestinians, for which they partly blame the United States.

They said that foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) "will formulate an Arab initiative based on Saudi ideas which have been the subject of inter-Arab consultations." – Albawaba.com