THE WORLD - Arabs give a boost to summit - Saudi Arabia and other key states, possibly including Syria, agree to attend U.S. talks on the Mideast conflict.
CAIRO — 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 here when the Arab League announced that cabinet-level representatives from its major states, possibly including Syria, would attend the summit next week in Annapolis, Md. The crucial 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," Saud said after the Arab League meeting. "As long as 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 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged Arab leaders to put aside misgivings that the summit would be little more than a photo op arranged by an outgoing U.S. president whose policies have failed across the Middle East. Rice persuaded Egypt and Jordan, and with their help, gained the endorsement of Saudi Arabia, which Washington regards as a decisive voice in the Arab world.
"This is a signal they believe this will be a serious and substantive meeting," said State Department spokeswoman Leslie Phillips. "The Annapolis conference will show broad international support for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders' efforts and will be a launching point for negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of Israeli- Palestinian peace.
"We look forward to as full a participation as possible from all invitees and we look forward to seeing them all in Annapolis this Tuesday."
But the mood at Arab League headquarters was more wary than ebullient. Diplomats attempted to burnish a united Arab front, but few were predicting that the U.S. would put enough pressure on Israel to force lasting concessions leading to an independent Palestinian state.
Bold statements mixed with sober assessments that the conference's ambitions had been scaled back from solving the Middle East peace crisis to creating an agenda for future talks.
