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Arab Nations Will Join Peace Talks

By NOHA EL-HENNAWY and JEFFREY FLEISHMAN, Los Angeles Times

Published: November 24, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt - Saudi Arabia and other key Arab nations Friday agreed to attend a U.S.-sponsored peace conference, a move that added credibility to Washington's attempt to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict before President Bush leaves office.

The political guessing game over what countries would participate ended when the Arab League announced that Cabinet-level representatives from its major states, with the exception of Syria, would travel next week to the summit in Annapolis, Md.

The critical nod came from Saudi Arabia, a strong U.S. ally, which overcame its reservations and indicated that Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal may attend.

"I'm not hiding any secret about the Saudi position. We were hesitant until today," Faisal said. "As long the Arab position has agreed on attending, the kingdom will walk with its brothers in one line."

Those calculated words capped months of shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged Arab leaders to put aside misgivings that Tuesday's summit would be little more than a photo-op by an outgoing U.S. president.

The mood at the Arab League headquarters was more wary than ebullient, though. Diplomats attempted to burnish a united Arab front, but few were predicting the United States would put enough pressure on Israel to force lasting concessions leading to an independent Palestinian state.

"What is the objective of this conference?" said Saeb Erakat, a chief Palestinian negotiator. "To avoid high expectations, the objective ... as specified by the invitation is to launch the final status negotiations on the Palestinian-Israeli track."

By late Friday, it seemed that Syria was leaning toward attending. Syrian media quoted Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem as saying that the United States has agreed to add the Golan Heights to the agenda.

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