13 January 2004	Tuesday	20 Ziqa'ad 1424

RIYADH, Jan 12: Qatar is the first Gulf state to officially support the Geneva peace initiative between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It has also urged the Arabs states to support the plan; the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted the Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem al Thani as saying.

After meeting Israeli and Palestinian architects of the peace initiative, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Yasser Abed Rabbo, who were accompanied by Daniel Levy and Rith al Omari, the Qatari foreign minister said, "this is an agreement that will enable both sides to feel that they have made achievements, and this would be the basis of any future agreement."

The meeting was held on the sidelines of a conference underway in Qatar on relations between the United States and the Arab and Muslim world, and on peace initiatives in the region.