Israel Welcomes Arab League’s Decision to Attend Annapolis Summit

By Diane Smith
23:35, November 23rd 2007

The Arab League foreign ministers’ decision to attend the Middle East peace talks a the Maryland conference was more than welcomed by Israel, who’s officials stated their contentment regarding this pronouncement late Friday.

Israel’s foreign ministry said that the decision made by the Arab foreign ministers early Friday in Cairo to join the Annapolis talks would make the meeting more valuable and at the same time strengthen the role of the Arab countries in the peace process, Ynet reported.

The Israeli ministry also added in his statement that the Arab League’s choice really reflected the expectations of the community of Arabic nations.

The conference that will be held in Annapolis, Maryland and its scheduled for Tuesday has the main objective of initiating the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, with US President George W Bush, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meeting in the morning.

Many officials feared that the Arab League, a regional organization of Arab States in the Middle East and North Africa formed in Cairo in 1945, might not attend the conference, but Egypt and Jordan manifested their intentions of participating and Saudi Arabia along with Syria followed. There were more than 40 countries invited to join the summit and the presence of most of them is crucial.

After the meeting of the Arab states that took place in Cairo early Friday, 15 Arab states announced they will take part at the US-sponsored summit in Annapolis, Md. Syria was the only one that conditioned its presence. The Syrian officials said they will attend the meeting only if its dispute over the Golan Heights, a Syrian district occupied by Israel since 1967, will be on the agenda of discussions.

“The Arab peace initiative follow-up committee has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference on the ministerial level to discuss the peace process,” the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said at the news conference held after the meeting.