UN Security Council to hear Arabs' peace proposal

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 6 (Reuters) The U.N. Security Council has tentatively agreed to invite senior officials from the Arab world to New York this month to discuss their plea to resuscitate the West Asia peace process, diplomats said.

Responding to a request from the 22-nation Arab League, council members said yesterday they expected the meeting to take place Sept.

21.

''Everybody, I think, is interested in the proposal. But at the same time everybody would like to see good, positive preparation and a good outcome if that meeting is to make any sense,'' said Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima after council members met to block out their agenda for September.

Arab League foreign ministers decided to approach the Security Council at a meeting last month in Cairo after concluding that international efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict had failed and a new approach was needed.

The group said the new plan for ending the conflict should be based on past U.N. resolutions as well as ''on the basis of land for peace, and through establishment of effective and specific mechanisms for the swift resumption of direct talks between the parties.'' The group said it wants the Security Council to supervise negotiations and set a target date for their completion.

The council meeting will coincide with the opening debate of the new General Assembly session, an annual event attended by many heads of state and government and other top officials.

The Security Council's 15 member-nations are expected to be represented at the Sept. 21 meeting by their foreign ministers or possibly even more senior officials, diplomats said.

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, last week denied the peace process had failed and questioned whether the meeting was needed.

Reuters SAM DB0848