Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left Rome Tuesday for a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia where he is scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Abdullah, the country's de-facto ruler, to review major international issues, airport officials said, according to AFP.
The Saudi crown prince last month floated a peace plan offering Israel full normalization with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since the 1967 war.
However, diplomats in Cairo say the proposal has been modified at Syria's request, and will go before a summit of Arab leaders due to take place in Beirut on March 27-28 as an offer of overall peace instead of full normalization, which Israel is likely to find less attractive.
The Italian Prime Minister has welcomed "new elements" in the Saudi peace plan for the Middle East region. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
