Bush backs Saudi plan for peace in the Middle East

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A radical scheme born over dinner

A Middle East peace proposal floated by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah gathered momentum yesterday as the White House signalled approval. In a telephone call to the de facto Saudi ruler, President George Bush said the plan, under which Arab states would open full relations with Israel if it withdraws completely from the occupied Palestinian territories, was "helpful".

In what seems to be an attempt to apply pressure on Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon – who has in the past adamantly opposed full withdrawal – President Bush said he wanted Israel and the Palestinians to know that "there are other nations in the region that are committed to peace."

The European Union's foreign policy envoy Javier Solana is cutting short a trip to Israel to fly to Jeddah today to find out more about the plans. Cristina Gallach, the EU envoy's spokeswoman, said he had decided to seek exploratory discussions with the Saudi ruler after hearing a positive response to Prince Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz's proposal, outlined in the New York Times last week, from Yasser Arafat and from some Israel officials.

Israeli foreign policy officials have cited it as a potentially important change in Saudi Arabia's position on Israel, although they acknowledge that its current terms are unacceptable to Sharon. Russia welcomed the initiative yesterday.

Ms Gallach said: "Mr Solana would like to hear from Crown Prince Abdullah about the ideas he has in mind. At this point we can only talk about ideas. We haven't seen a plan."

The prince's proposal has given a new lease of life to diplomatic efforts to bring calm to the Middle East, which has witnessed 17 months of violence at a cost of more than 1,000 lives. Although few expect it to be enacted to the letter, the plan is seen as a possible mechanism to break the deadlock. But it has also become the subject of elaborate diplomatic posturing, not least because none of the parties can afford to be seen to reject it outright.

Mr Sharon, who has always opposed any suggestion of an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and has continued building Jewish settlements in the West Bank despite international condemnation, has clearly concluded that the proposal requires careful handling to avoid him being accused of obstructing peace efforts.

There are, however, many unanswered questions – not least, the extent to which President Bush is willing to support the idea. Nor is it confirmed whether Prince Abdullah will go ahead with his plan to place it before the Arab summit in Beirut next month, or how many of the 22 Arab nations will endorse it. The Jordanian foreign minister has said that "seven or eight" Arab states support it, a figure which included Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel's influential Haaretz newspaper declared that the Saudi plan was "an opportunity to sign a peace treaty with most of the Arab world (except for countries like Libya and Iraq), including the Palestinians".