Arab League summit deals peace plan a setback

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Bush administration attempts to revive Arab-Israeli peace talks and influence regional developments suffered a setback Wednesday as leaders at an Arab League summit, including the heads of state of several U.S. allies, condemned U.S. foreign policy.

Saudi King Abdullah II condemned the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa lamented "the absence of honest mediation" in the Arab-Israeli conflict, a shot at U.S. officials perceived as too pro-Israeli.

"In our beloved Iraq, blood is shed among brothers under ... illegitimate foreign occupation and detestable sectarianism that raises the threat of a civil war," the king said.

Experts on the Saudi kingdom were divided over the significance of Abdullah's comment, with one cautioning against reading too much into it and another calling the statement extraordinary, since the Saudis have officially recognized the Iraqi government and accepted post-invasion U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq.

Once among the Bush administration's most trusted allies, Abdullah has bucked the White House in recent months, inviting U.S. foe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Riyadh and cajoling the United States' Palestinian ally, Mahmoud Abbas, into joining a coalition government with Hamas, which the State Department lists as a terrorist organization.

A host of pressing problems threatening this volatile, oil-rich region arose during the first sessions of the two-day summit, hosted by Abdullah.

They included the standoff between Iran and Britain over Iran's capture of 15 sailors in the nearby Persian Gulf, fears of an impending nuclear arms race, the situation in Iraq and the standoff between government and opposition forces in Lebanon.

But the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, viewed by many as the wellspring for the region's rising Islamic radicalism, took center stage at the summit. Abdullah, in a forceful speech, condemned the U.S.-backed aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority government, led by Hamas militants who don't recognize Israel's right to exist.

Saudis want to revive their 2002 peace plan in which they proposed swapping Arab recognition of Israel for a host of concessions, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from land occupied following the 1967 Six Day War and a "just solution" for Palestinians who fled their homes after Israel was founded in 1948.

Israel, which has shunned the proposal in the past, has been receptive in recent months, calling on the Arab League to revise the document and praising Saudi attempts to generate a dialogue.

"It's a positive change," said Yariv Ovadia, the Israeli foreign ministry's deputy spokesman. "I hope this will encourage the Palestinians to do the same."

But Israel has demanded changes in the initiative. It argues that the language on refugees leaves the door open to the return of large numbers of Palestinians to land that is now part of Israel, which would endanger the country's identity as a Jewish state.

But in public statements both Palestinian Authority president Abbas and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat decried any changes to the Saudi proposal.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ken Ellingwood in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Additional comments by King Abdullah from

The Associated Press.