March 3, 2002	Sunday	Zilhaj 18, 1422

SYRTE (Libya), March 2: Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi on Saturday unveiled a plan for Arab-Israeli peace in exchange for three conditions, including the right of Palestinians refugees to return to their homeland.

“We will recognize Israel on three conditions: the return of all Palestinian refugees, the removal of weapons of mass destruction from the entire region, particularly Israel, and holding free elections under the aegis of the United Nations” Qadhafi said.

Qadhafi also criticized peace ideas floated last month by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who proposed Arab recognition of Israel in return for complete Israeli pullout from Arab land captured in 1967.

He said the elections should be held in Israel and the Palestinian territories and their outcome would determine which party would rule over Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Prince Abdullah “is a friend”, Qadhafi told a rally in the northern coastal city of Syrte marking the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Libyan Popular Socialist Jamahiriya said

“Why did Saudi Arabia, the home of the Haj and the holy sites, choose to drag itself into this swamp,” Qadhafi said.

“The Israelis and the Americans have welcomed this proposal like a gift from heaven, that paves the way for Saudi recognition of the Jewish state,” the Libyan leader said.

He said the Saudi land-for-peace offer, which was welcomed in most Arab capitals, in the United States and Europe, was not viable. “Who can guarantee that Syria, Libya, Lebanon or the other Arab countries will recognize Israel once it withdraws from the occupied territories?,” he asked.

“Who can guarantee the dismantling of the (anti-Israeli) resistance in Palestine and the end of the operations by Hamas, since Abu Ammar (Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat) cannot control the Palestinians?” Qadhafi said.—AFP