Arabs want Jolan on Annapolis agenda

Arab ministers meeting on Friday to reach a common position on next week's American-sponsored 'peace confab' have urged Washington to include the issue of the Zionist-occupied Jolan Heights on the agenda.

"Arab foreign ministers sent an urgent message to the United States asking it to explicitly include the Golan Heights on the agenda so Syria can attend the talks," an Arab diplomat attending the Cairo meeting told AFP.

President Bashar al-Assad has said Damascus will stay away unless the broader Arab-'Israeli' conflict is up for discussion, including the Jolan, which the Zionist regime has occupied since 1967.

Arab states are sceptical about the Annapolis confab.

"The main issue on the agenda is to decide whether Arab participation will be determined by a common decision, or individually," said Hisham Yussef, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa's Chief of Staff.