July 26, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 10, 1428

JERUSALEM, July 25: The first Arab League delegation to visit Israel was on Wednesday locked in ‘historic’ talks with Israeli leaders in west Jerusalem to promote a newly revived Middle East peace plan.

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan arrived separately but were spending the day together in a series of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

They hope to persuade Israel to accept a peace initiative that was revised by Saudi Arabia and re-adopted by the Arab League in March.

Egypt’s Ahmed Abul Gheit and Jordan’s Abdel Ilah Al Khatib met right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of state Shimon Peres before heading into flagship talks with Livni.

The League has tasked Egypt and Jordan with persuading the Jewish state to accept the plan.

The blueprint offers Israel normalisation of ties with Arab nations in exchange for full withdrawal from Arab land occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War, the creation of a Palestinian state and a return of refugees.

The ministers would take to Israel “the message (that there is) a joint and serious offer for peace in the region and we hope there will be a positive reaction,” Khatib told AFP in Amman before travelling to Jerusalem.

Israel’s foreign ministry hailed the talks as historic and said it wanted to see moderate Arab states play a greater role in peace efforts.

“This is the first time that a delegation has arrived in Israel under the auspices of the Arab League,” ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.

“An official Arab League body has authorised this mission to come to Israel and that is historic.

“We think the Arab world should play a positive role in supporting Palestinians who believe in peace and reconciliation ... The Arab world has to be more involved and they can be more involved,” Regev said.

“It would be historically unforgivable if the initiative became just another document to be filed away... But the challenge we all face is how we transform the initiative into something tangible that can energise the Israeli-Palestinian peace track.”

Wednesday’s talks come amid a flurry in diplomatic activity as the West seeks to revive dead-in-the-water peace talks and bolster Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip last month.—AFP