Olmert considers entering talks with Arab group

Jerusalem, Apr 14: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering entering US-backed talks with an Arab League working group that could try to negotiate a sweeping land-for-peace accord, Israeli officials said.

Olmert has for weeks resisted pressure from the United States, Egypt and others to commit to talks with the working group, which is expected to consist of Egypt and Jordan, and possibly other Arab states.

The land-for-peace initiative, relaunched at an Arab League summit in Riyadh, offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a ''just solution'' for Palestinian refugees.

A senior Israeli official close to the deliberations yesterday said the proposed working group talks were ''an option'' under active consideration and that ''initial contacts'' have been made to follow up on the Riyadh summit.

Another senior Israeli official said support was growing within the Israeli government to agree to the working group talks, and Olmert planned to make a final decision before a committee of Arab League members meet on Wednesday at the ministerial level in Cairo.

The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because a final decision has yet to be made. Olmert's office declined to comment.

At the Cairo meeting, the committee is expected to name several working groups, possibly including the one that will work with Israel. It is unclear how soon and how extensive contacts between the working group and Israel will be.

Reigniting Violence

Israeli officials said the talks could lead to a breakthrough but also risked igniting violence if the sides bogged down in disagreement.

Olmert has so far refused to discuss the main final status issues defining the borders of a Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The two leaders will meet on Sunday and Olmert's office said they would discuss the legal, economic and governmental structures of a future Palestinian state, as well as humanitarian and security matters.

In his initial response to the Riyadh summit, Olmert proposed holding a regional conference that would include the leaders of Arab countries like Saudi Arabia that do not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

But Olmert's proposal was rebuffed by the Saudis and others as a non-starter, and was viewed by Western and Arab diplomats as a diversionary tactic to avoid committing to more detailed negotiations through the smaller Arab League working group.

Olmert has said that he sees positive points in the Saudi-led peace initiative. But Israel opposes the return of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in what is now the Jewish state, and wants to hold on to major settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank.

Reuters