JERUSALEM, April 30: The Arab League flagged a shift in the terms of its 2002 peace initiative to incorporate mutual land swaps under an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, a step welcomed by Israel and Washington on Tuesday.

The principle of land swaps has been affirmed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in previous rounds of talks, but has never formed part of the Arab initiative unveiled by Saudi Arabia in February 2002.

Under the original plan, the League’s 22 member states would forge full diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for “total withdrawal by Israel to the June 4, 1967, lines” and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

But the Arab League said on Monday it could involve a “comparable and mutual agreed minor swap of the land” to reflect the realities on the ground.

Details of the revamped proposal emerged following talks in Washington between top Arab League members and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

However, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat played down the significance.

“This is not something new. The Arab delegation presented the official Palestinian position: Upon Israel’s unequivocal acceptance of the two-state solution on the 1967 border, the State of Palestine as a sovereign country might consider minor agreed border modifications equal in size and quality, in the same geographic area, and that do not harm Palestinian interests,” Erakat said.

His Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, hailed the Arab League announcement as “very good news”, although another official was much cooler.

“Israel welcomes the encouragement that the Arab League delegation and the secretary of state have given to the diplomatic process,” the official said. “The two sides can present their positions when the negotiations start.”

Livni described the move as “an important step”, saying she hoped it would lead to a renewal of direct peace talks that collapsed just weeks after they were relaunched in September 2010.

“The statement that was made by the Arab League today is a very positive statement,” she said.—AFP