Editor�s Note:
Last week U.S. President Barack Obama told an Al-Arabiya
interviewer his approach to the Middle East was, "for the United States to get engaged right away." He outlined the
course his envoy George Mitchell would take in addressing peacemaking between Palestinians and Israelis, to "start by listening" and to hear from all the parties. That listening process would lead the new administration to formulate a plan on how to proceed. This weekend Mitchell met with Saudi leaders at the end of
a week in the region
on his listening tour. Today we present for you consideration a snapshot of those meetings through the reporting of the
Christian Science Monitor, Arab News and AFP. Excerpts from their coverage are followed by related stories posted on SUSRIS.
Mitchell gets earful from Mideast - Christian Science Monitor
"Winding up his week-long tour of the region, President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, met Saudi officials here over the weekend for an exchange of ideas on ending the volatile Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Mitchell conferred with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud bin Faisal Saturday night and met with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Sunday. Specifically, the talks were said to cover the Saudi-initiated Arab Peace Initiative � first offered to Israel in 2002 � as well as how to counter what many Arab states regard as an alarming development: The increased involvement of Iran in Palestinian affairs, through its partners, Syria and
Hamas. "Something needs to be done about Syria, Iran, and Hamas," said one Saudi source. "They believe that by doing what they're doing it's going..
..to put them on top.. .. [We need] to counter it once and for all." Arab officials and commentators have praised Obama's initial moves to improve US relations with the Muslim world. But Mitchell is no doubt discovering that there is also a deep well of skepticism that the new US president will succeed in breaking the deadly impasse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Consensus seems widespread among Arabs that Washington must, at a minimum, demand a halt to expansions of Jewish settlements on the West Bank if the US is to convince the world that it is serious about tacking the six-decade-old conflict.."
[Complete
article - click here]
Find a just solution to Mideast conflict, Abdullah tells Mitchell - Arab News
"Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday held talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and called for intensive international efforts to find a just solution to the protracted Palestinian-Israeli conflict. King Abdullah and Mitchell discussed �new developments in the Palestinian issue and the Middle East peace process and stressed the importance of intensifying global efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution,� the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Saudi Arabia insisted that any Middle East solution should ensure the establishment of an independent state for the Palestinians where they can live, the agency said. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal attended the talks at the king�s palace in Riyadh. Mitchell arrived in the Saudi capital on Saturday on the last leg of a Middle East tour aimed at reviving peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel. The move comes a week after Barack Obama took charge as the new US president and in the wake of Israel�s deadly three-week assault on the Gaza Strip.
[Complete
article - click here]
Obama's US envoy wraps up Mideast tour in Saudi - AFP
"US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Sunday on the last leg of a Middle East tour aimed at reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Mitchell, the new Barack Obama administration pointman for helping revive peace talks after Israel's deadly three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, spoke with the king on "the importance of intensifying international efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution to ensure that the Palestinians establish their own independent and viable state," the official news agency SPA said. On a trip that began just eight days after Obama was sworn in as US president on January 20, Mitchell, famed for helping broker peace in Northern Ireland in 1998, held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, and also visited Egypt and Jordan. In Israel he also met hawkish former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, the opinion poll favourite ahead of a February 10 general election. But there was no indication of whether Mitchell had assuaged Arab concerns over the direction of US policy in the wake of the previous George W. Bush administration's close support for Israel and defence of its 22-day Gaza assault, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians. Critics in the region have urged Obama to be more even-handed in fostering negotiations between the two sides, with some warning that if US policy does not change Washington faces even chillier relations with Arab governments.."
[Complete
article - click here]
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