Sharon Should Choose Between Peace & Bloodshed, Prince Abdullah

Sharon Should Choose Between Peace & Bloodshed, Prince Abdullah
HIGHLIGHTS: No One in the Region Shall Be Spared if Peace Efforts Fail||Tenet Likely to Follow Burns Now in the Region||Mubarak Bush to Discuss Time Table For Steps Leading to Ending Israeli Palestinian Stalemate in Washington Next Week||STORY: Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah warned Israel Wednesday against going too far on the road of "oppression, stubbornness and tyranny," saying such a path would cause more bloodshed and destruction for everyone.(Read photo caption)

"The Arab peace initiative has placed Israel on a crossroads: the road of justice, justice and peace, and the road of oppression, stubbornness and tyranny and this road will only lead to more blood and destruction for all sides without exception," Abdullah told the kingdom's Shura consultative council.

The peace initiative, proposed by Abdullah and adopted by Arab leaders during a summit in Beirut two months ago, offers Israel full relations with the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the establishment of a Palestinian state with traditionally Arab east Jerusalem as its capital.

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The Prince's speech coincided with the arrival in the region of President Bush's envoy William Burns CIA director George J. Tenet likely to follow this weekend. The move appears to mark the launching of a new effort to start peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Burns will survey the region, seeking the views of Egyptian, Saudi Arabian and Jordanian officials as well as those of Israel and the Palestinians, while Tenet intends to focus on revamping security arrangements on the West Bank and in Gaza.

The administration already has offered a broad outline of what it wants to see come out of peace talks, including an international foreign ministers meeting this summer, a Palestinian state, a more democratic Palestinian Authority, massive aid to the Palestinians and security for Israel against terror attacks.

But, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday in Rome, "we are not at this point prepared to table an American plan with specific deadlines."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due in Washington next week to see Bush. One of the issues to be discussed during Mubarak's visit, is whether to propose a timetable for steps to be taken in the framework of an effort to end the stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians.

PHOTO CAPTION

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah said in remarks published on May 14, 2002 that he had to spend hours getting President Bush up to speed on Middle East issues, but his impression of the U.S. leader was positive and he said that Bush has 'noble qualities.' Bush and the Crown Prince are shown during their meeting in Crawford, Texas, April 25. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
- May 14 8:22 AM ET

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