His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday urged a unified stand at the Arab summit this month to relaunch a 2002 peace offer for Israel.

King Abdullah told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit that the items on the agenda for the March 28-29 summit in Riyadh were extremely important and require that all Arab countries work together to unify their positions, particularly to revive the Arab Peace Initiative.

The initiative, which Arab states launched at their Beirut summit in 2002, offered Israel full recognition and peace in return for its withdrawal to the 1967 borders, the establishment of an independent Palestine and an “agreed, just solution” to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with UN Resolution 194 of 1948. At a meeting with the top diplomats, the King called on Arabs to support the Palestinian Authority to build institutions that would form the basis of an independent state. The King and the foreign ministers, meanwhile, agreed that an end to violence in Iraq was vital to bring about national reconciliation for all Iraqis.

Prince Faisal and Abul Gheit also met with Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib to prepare for the Riyadh summit.

The Jordan Times