King Abdullah, right, arrives at the second day’s session of the Arab summit in Riyadh with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed, Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. (Reuters)

RIYADH, 30 March 2007 — Leaders of Arab countries yesterday asked Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer to end their decades-old conflict while the Palestinian president warned of more violence if the “hand of peace” was rejected.

Speaking at the concluding session of a two-day summit in Riyadh, Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel not to waste the chance for peace and called for a committee led by Saudi Arabia to pursue it.

“The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one,” Abbas told the summit, which was also attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Israel was not ready to accept the Arab peace plan in its present form and wanted negotiations. “I would say this: Let’s conduct negotiations. You come with your positions, and we will come with ours,” Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio.

“I don’t think we need to predetermine what we accept or don’t accept. Each side should come with its own positions and negotiate from there,” he added.

The deal has called for a full withdrawal from Israeli occupied lands to pre-1967 borders and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state which would live side by side with Israel. It also calls for the return of Palestinian refugees. Arab countries in return would recognize Israel as a state and establish diplomatic relations with it.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said Israel was endangering the region by rejecting the peace initiative, which was originally proposed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah when he was crown prince.

The United States welcomed the endorsement by Arab leaders of the peace initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. “That is something that we view as very positive,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack when asked about the outcome of the Arab summit and endorsement of the 2002 plan drawn up at a previous summit in Beirut.

The summit warned of the danger of a nuclear arms race in the region, though it also stressed the right of every country to possess nuclear energy for peaceful uses. Iran has reiterated that its atomic program was peaceful. The Gulf Cooperation Council states said last year they would begin developing their own joint nuclear energy program for electricity and water desalination.

King Abdullah opened the 19th Arab League Summit at the King Abdul Aziz Conference Center here on Wednesday, urging Arab leaders to usher in a new era for joint Arab action while holding them responsible for disunity in the Arab world.

“King Abdullah’s speech reflected the worries and situation of the Ummah. He diagnosed the reasons for their failures and sufferings and proposed ways to strengthen its progress and restore its lost glory. If all Arabs and their leaders follow what the king said they can surely overcome their problems,” said Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani.

“There was a little tension in the beginning but under the wise leadership of King Abdullah that was later overcome. It was successful,” said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Al-Arabiya satellite channel.

“The Riyadh summit restored hope for the launching of a serious Arab joint initiative,” commented Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The summit announced the establishment of an inter-Arab peace security body under the Arab League which would be responsible for protecting Arab states from any foreign incursion. It also aims at preserving the sovereignty of Arab states.

King Abdullah arranged a meeting where he along with Sudanese President Omar Bashir, UN Secretary-General Ban, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Alfa Omar Konami, head of the African Union representative office, discussed the Darfur issue. Prince Saud announced the meeting yesterday after the summit. The meeting took place late Tuesday evening.

According to Prince Saud, the agreement aimed at restoring “trust” between the Sudanese government and the United Nations. It also aimed at supporting the Darfur issue by the African Union, while being given logistic support from the United Nations. “The Kingdom was successful in gathering all four parties to discuss Darfur, particularly the support of the African Union to the issue, under the UN umbrella,” said a source from the foreign ministry to Arab News.

Prince Saud said that King Abdullah was stating a fact when he described Iraq as being under occupation, a criticism which has prompted Washington to seek clarification from its ally.

The king “did not name a specific (occupying country) but said that Iraq is under occupation,” Saud said.

“I don’t know how a country in which there are soldiers who don’t hold its nationality can be described other than as (being under) occupation,” the prince said.

On Wednesday, the king slammed the “illegitimate foreign occupation” of Iraq, where US-led forces have been in control since invading in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.

Syrian President Bashar had requested that the next Arab summit be held in Damascus. The request was approved by the summit.