Arab League: Zionist regime eludes peace

A senior Arab League (AL) official said the Zionist regime is trying to escape from the peace process and commitments it had made.

 

In an interview with Xinhua, AL assistant secretary general for Palestinian affairs Mohamed Sobeih said Zionist regime's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent remarks that time is not sufficient to reach a peace accord are attempts to escape from the peace process and Israeli commitments.

 

Sobeih said the joint declaration released by the Annapolis gathering was not clear and did not include several essential issues that exist between the Palestinians and Israelis, adding that the Zionist army and intelligence department are putting pressure on Olmert not to move forward on the peace process.

 

All indications suggest that Zionist regime is not able to forge ahead towards the political process and it is so weak to fulfill commitments according to the roadmap peace plan, he added.

 

Sobeih stressed that the most important breakthrough at the Annapolis confab was that all Arabs reached a consensus that peace with the Zionist regime should be based on the Arab Peace Initiative. He added Arab countries should adhere to the stance in order not to allow Zionist regime to be free to take advantage of the Annapolis meeting.

 

The Arab Peace Initiative, which was first approved in 2002 and reactivated during the 19th Arab summit in Riyadh in March this year, offers to extend recognition to Israel provided that it withdraws from all Palestinian territories occupied in the 1967 war, including East Al-Quds and Syria's Jolan Heights, allows teh return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and agrees to formation of an independent Palestinian state with al-Qods as capital.