Jordan king calls for U.S. pressures to achieve peace and stability in the region

Arab, Islamic and international condemnation of Israel's building of settlements around Jerusalem

President Obama: Saudi king's initiative set road to peace

Europe shrugs off relations with Israel before reaching peace, Netanyahu government refuses European position

European, Chinese and Russian initiatives to hold international conferences for supporting peace

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired at Al Aziziyah Palace in Khobar the Cabinet's session.

At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the cabinet on the discussions, consultations, meetings and contacts he held over past few days with leaders and envoys of friendly countries including his meeting with Bangladesh's Premier Sheikha Hassina and the message he received from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Moheiaddin Khoja said the Cabinet discussed a number of reports on political, social, environmental and economic developments in the region.

Dr. Khoja added that the cabinet also discussed the UN Anti-Racism Conference, stressing the Kingdom's rejection of any racist acts.

Locally, Dr. Khoja also added that the Cabinet reviewed the King's visit to King Abdulaziz City for Sciences and Technology as well as his launching of the second phase projects in the city. The cabinet also praised the King's ongoing support in this area.

The Cabinet also stressed the importance of the "2009 Advanced Technologies Forum" launched Sunday under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The Cabinet commended the Kingdom's interest in carrying out programs and projects that enhance scientific development.

The Cabinet also commended the King's visit to the Eastern Region stressing the King's keenness to personally follow the needs of his people. He will also inaugurate some crucial projects in the region.

Dr. Khoja also added that the Cabinet, after closely reviewing the Cabinet's agenda, took a number of decisions as follows:

The Cabinet approved the document signed in the city of Khartoum by the Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Sudanese Minister of Energy and Mining during their meeting on 24-25/3/2008 concerning the request of the Manafe' International Company Limited to be given the right of utilizing and extracting the minerals of copper, zinc, gold and silver at the site (Atlantis 2) located in the middle of the Red Sea in line with the agreement signed by the two countries.

The Cabinet approved the licensing of the establishment of a joint stock company named "Saudi Tokyo Marine Company".

The Cabinet approved appointment of Dr. Fahd bin Hamid Dakhail, Eng. Safar bin Mohammad Dhofayer, Eng. Abdullah bin Ibrahim Alhabib and Dr. Khalid bin Hosain Bayari as members of the board of directors of the Commission of Electricity Regulation and Duplicate Production for three years starting from 9/5/1430 H. and the renewal of the membership of Dr. Fahd bin Salih Alsultan to the board of directors of the Commission of Electricity Regulation and Duplicate Production for three years starting from 9/5/1430 H.

The Cabinet approved a number of appointments at the 14th rank as follows:

1- Abdulaziz bin Salih bin Abdulrahman Almohanna is appointed to the position of Director General of Financial Affairs at the National Guard,

2- Ibrahim bin Hamad bin Mohammad Abu Haimid is appointed to the position of Director General of the General Department of Weapons and ammunition,

3- Eng. Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Ibrahim Ala'bdulkareem is appointed to the position of Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry for Projects and Maintenance at the Ministry of Education / Boys Education.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan said that there will be no Middle East peace without determined intervention from US President Barack Obama, as the Israelis and Palestinians will not get "anywhere" by themselves.

King Abdullah II, following White House talks last week, told NBC television in an interview aired Sunday that he would wait for a signal on US intentions after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit next month.

"But if, right after that visit, there's not a clear understanding of how America is going to weigh in on these problems, then I think the goodwill (towards) the United States will disappear," he said on "Meet the Press." "And I think that people will start cutting their own deals," Abdullah warned.

Noting Israel's recent conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the king said that "in the next 18 months, if we don't move the process forward ... there will be another conflict between Israel and another protagonist."

"And how many people will have to continue to lose their lives?" he said.

"If it's left to the players, the Israelis and Palestinians by themselves, we're not going to get anywhere.

"It can only happen if there is an American umbrella with a determined American president that is going to get the Israelis and Palestinians to sit (at) the table."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, denounced in a statement Israel's interior ministry's decision to annex 12,000 dunums (12,000 square meters) for the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank.

"Israel's continued settlement expansion is a deliberate destruction of international and U.S. efforts to make progress on the peace process," Abu Rudeineh said, adding "such a policy affirms that the Israeli side is not serious about reaching a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.

A special committee in the Israeli Housing Ministry approved a plan on Sunday to expand the illegal West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim by 12,000 dunums (12,000 square meters) in spite of objections from the United States.

According to Israeli Army Radio, the plan has yet to be given the green light by Housing Minister Eli Yishai.

The plan would link Ma’ale Adumim, the largest settlement in the West Bank, with the nearby settlement of Qedar, seizing the land in between. This expansion, in addition to another planned expansion to the north of the settlement will further isolate the north of the occupied West Bank from the south.

The proposed expansion would include 6,000 new housing units in between Ma’ale Adumim and Qedar, which is now home to 800 settlers. Some 30,000 people live in Ma’ale Adumim, according to the Israeli government.

In addition to the expansion, Qedar, which was previously linked to the Etzion block of settlements in the southern West Bank, would now be annexed to the Ma’ale Adumim Municipality.

Former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert had pushed to include Qedar on the western side of the separation wall, thereby consolidating Israel’s claim to the territory.

Ma'ale Adumim was originally built in 1976 in violation of international law and in defiance of a US monitoring mission that sought to prevent the construction of settlements.

France expressed "great concern" at a proposed Israeli plan to expand Ma’ale Adumim, the 30,000-resident Israeli settlement in the heart of the occupied West Bank, AFP reported.

"The plans to expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim are particularly concerning in that they threaten the creation of a viable Palestinian state, without which there can be no peace in the Middle East or lasting security for Israel," said the spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eric Chevallier, according to AFP.

On Sunday it was revealed that a special committee of the Israeli housing ministry approved a proposal to merge Ma’ale Adumim with the much smaller nearby settlement of Qedar, seizing 12,000 dunums of land in between the two.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said that Israel's new government has not made a single positive move towards making peace with the Palestinians since it took power.

"I do not believe the Israeli government has taken any positive moves up to this moment - nothing whatsoever," Abul-Gheit told journalists in Luxembourg after a meeting with EU counterparts.

Abul-Gheit was speaking after the EU agreed to work on strengthening its ties with his country. The EU has already agreed to upgrade its relationship with Israel, but that process has come under fire following Israel's Gaza offensive and the new government's expansive settlement policy.

EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday that it was too early for the EU to strengthen ties with Israel.

"On the one hand, the upgrading was an offer that in principle still stands. But for it to be taken up and pursued, we need to be sure that we are working with the same terms of reference; and for Europeans, the context of EU-Israel relations remains the same: work for a prosperous, secure and peaceful Middle East," she said.

That should include "an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living peacefully beside Israel with East Jerusalem as its capital," she said.

On the other hand, Egyptian Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq said the world's billion-plus Muslims should go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to show that it is a Muslim city and the future capital of a Palestinian state.

Zaqzouq made the appeal despite the Arab world's refusal of normalization with Israel, which wants to make Jerusalem its "eternal and undivided capital."

"Just as Muslims go on pilgrimage... to Mecca, they should also go to Jerusalem and to the Al-Aqsa mosque by the hundreds of thousand every year," the Al-Masry Al-Yom daily quoted Zaqzouq as saying.

This way "we can show the whole world that Jerusalem is something that concerns all Muslims," Zaqzouq said. East Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site after Saudi Arabia's holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Israel invaded, occupied and annexed Arab east Jerusalem, also the location of key holy sites of Christianity and Judaism, in 1967. The international community says the annexation is illegal.

Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but continues to reject normalization, including most travel to Israel, as long as the Jewish state occupies Arab lands captured in 1967.

"I invite all Muslims... to go to Jerusalem, even with Israeli visas, and I know full well that I'm exposing myself to virulent attacks," by saying this, Zaqzouq told a conference entitled "Jerusalem from an Islamic point of view."

"If this proposition is followed through, the whole world, and Israel, will have to accept this reality, which is that Jerusalem is for Muslims and they will not give up on it," the state-owned Al-Ahram daily quoted him as saying.

Zaqzouq said that unfortunately his proposal has so far been rejected "and I am accused of seeking normalization" with Israel.

The Palestinian Authority last month accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" after it delivered dozens of eviction orders to Arab residents of east Jerusalem.

Israel rarely grants building permits to Arab residents of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to make the capital of their promised state.

Meanwhile, UN special envoy Terse Roed-Larsen criticized Hezbollah Sunday evening, describing the phenomenon of purported Hezbollah agents operating in Sinai as a serious violation of Egypt's sovereignty. "Hezbollah's cell in Egypt is a violation of Egyptian territories," Roed-Larsen said in Cairo following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's public prosecutor is interrogating 49 people it claims plotted to carry out "hostile operations" on orders from Hezbollah. The suspects, who face charges of espionage and planning to overthrow the regime, are allegedly led by Hezbollah operative Sami Shehab.

The Lebanese organization admitting at least one of the detainees was a member of the organization helping smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip.

However, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied his movement was planning terror attacks in order to destabilize Egypt.

Egyptian MPs are demanding an indictment be issued against Nasrallah. A bill of indictment is expected to be announced soon against the detained suspects, who include 24 fugitives.

Roed-Larsen said UN chief Ban Ki-moon dispatched him to Cairo to follow-up on Hezbollah's alleged plot.

Ban had expressed concern over Hezbollah operations outside Lebanese territories, saying "interference in another country's internal affairs constitutes a violation of sovereignty."

"The UN secretary general has clearly denounced this unjustified violation of Egypt's sovereignty and its internal affairs," said Roed-Larsen, Ban's special envoy for the implementation of resolution 1559.

"He [Ban] is following closely all circumstances related to the issue," Roed-Larsen added.

On Monday, German news agency DPA said Egypt has arrested three new suspects thought to have ties with the Hezbollah, in the Al-Arish area of the Sinai Peninsula The three are Egyptian and Palestinians; two of them were found with weapons in their possession, newspapers clippings and video reports of Nasrallah talking about the Palestinian resistance.

On the other hand, the European Union (EU) has already agreed to upgrade its relationship with Israel, but that process has come under fire following Israel's Gaza offensive and the new government's expansive settlement policy.

EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that it was too early for the EU to strengthen ties with Israel.

"On the one hand, the upgrading was an offer that in principle still stands. But for it to be taken up and pursued, we need to be sure that we are working with the same terms of reference; and for Europeans, the context of EU-Israel relations remains the same: work for a prosperous, secure and peaceful Middle East," she said.

That should include "an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living peacefully beside Israel with East Jerusalem as its capital," she added.

But Ferrero-Waldner's stance clashes with that of the Czech government and current EU presidency.

On Sunday, the Czech Republic's outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told the Ha'aretz newspaper in Israel that he was "strongly critical" of earlier comments by the commissioner, which he termed "really hasty."

The decision whether to strengthen ties between the EU and Israel is "a political decision to be taken by the council (of EU member states). I'm still president of the council, and I should know something about it," he stated.

Ferrero-Waldner hit back on Monday, saying that Topolanek "does not know the council's conclusions. He should read the council conclusions."

But Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who is set to take up the EU's presidency on July 1, played down the significance of the open split between the EU's executive and political leadership, stressing that any move towards Israel would depend on events.

"The upgrade is an option, but we are not at the moment at the time where we need to take the decision on what to do with it. We have to wait and see where the Israeli government comes out on some of the key issues," he said.

Moscow's proposal to host a Middle East peace conference has international backing and such a meeting should take place by year's end, the EU's top negotiator in the peace process said Wednesday.

"This is not only the wish of the Russian government, but something that has been agreed on within the Quartet," Marc Otte told journalists in Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart on plans for the conference.

Russia, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, has been pressing for four years to host an international peace conference for the region.

"I am convinced it will happen. I believe it will take place this year, but whether it will be the month of May, June or October, I cannot say," Otte said.

The United States and Israel have shied away from Russia's initiative, while Palestinians have welcomed the idea.

Moscow's close ties with the Palestinians date back to Soviet times. Unlike the West, Russia has kept up dialogue with the Gaza Strip's militant rulers Hamas, which has lead to some debate about who might participate were Moscow to host an international conference.

Otte, however, said that Russia would be highly attentive to Israel's concerns in its drive to go forth with hosting a new round of talks.

"Israel is reluctant to accept international meetings because they fear that it will mean ganging up on Israel on the part of Arab countries," he said.

"But Russia also has good relations with the Israelis and does not want to jeopardize that. It will not put Israel in an awkward position... Of course, it wants to be a player and it wants the conference to take place."

Russia last week hailed US President Barack Obama's invitation to Palestinian and Israeli leaders for talks in the White House as a "new start" for moving forward the stuttering peace process.

The Quartet has endorsed a roadmap that calls for a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside a secure Israel.

As the Middle East peace process is entering a crucial stage, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's ongoing tour of the region is sending a message that China advocates better cooperation and coordination among all parties concerned to push forward Mideast peace.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has adhered to a just and impartial stand in its vigorous efforts to promote dialogue and reconciliation between the parties concerned.

In his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the Chinese foreign minister urged Israel and Arab countries to treasure what they have achieved through long years of hard negotiations and stick to the right direction of peace talks in their joint efforts to push forward the peace process.

Yang reiterated China's readiness to help with the dialogue between Israel and Arabic countries, enhance their mutual trust, and play a constructive role in facilitating Israel-Arab peace talks and contribute to the early and fair resolution of the Middle East issues.

The Palestinian issue is at the core of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The Mideast peace process has undergone twists and turns since the 1991 Mideast peace conference in Madrid. History has proven that resorting to force cannot solve the conflicts in the region and peace is the general trend independent of people's will no matter what difficulties and setbacks there will be.

China is committed to boosting the Mideast peace process, and advocates and supports efforts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict through political talks on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and Middle East roadmap.

When meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul-Gheit on Tuesday, Yang said China supports the two-state solution and regards it as the only way out for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In November 2007 at the international peace conference in Annapolis, the United States, Israeli and Palestinian leaders vowed to resume their peace talks to reach an extensive peace deal and form an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in real peace and security.

The two-state resolution, however, is still bogged down over some major problems such as the status of Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees.

The political settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict is impossible without the concerted efforts of the international community.

Yang said in his talks with Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday that China is ready, along with the international community, to help the Palestinians realize their goal of nation building at an early date and push the Middle East peace process forward through unremitting efforts.

He also urged the international community to offer strong support to efforts to strengthen the unity among the Palestinians and promote economic growth on the Palestinian territories.

China has always played close attention to peace and development in the Middle East and believes that economic growth and political process in Palestine are closely linked and supplement each other.

China has offered economic assistance in various forms to Palestinian territories to help improve people's life and promote the territories' social-economic development.

Lasting peace and stability is not only in the fundamental interest of the Middle East countries, but also conducive to world peace and prosperity.

China will continue, together with the rest of the international community, to enhance communication and coordination among parties concerned and play a constructive role in achieving peace in the region at an early date.

In Vienna, Austrian leaders called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to use his country’s influence to stabilize the wider Middle East region on the second day of his visit to Austria.

At the outset of a bilateral business forum, Austrian President Heinz Fischer called on Syria to use its influence on Iran.

The aim was to get Tehran to react constructively to proposals from the international community for resolving the nuclear standoff, Fischer told the forum.

The Syrian president also met Chancellor Werner Faymann. One of Faymann’s points was that Damascus should get Palestinian militants to work towards peace with Israel. “The goal is to have less terrorist activities,” Faymann’s spokesman Thomas Zehetner said after the meeting.

Assad’s two-day official visit to Vienna coincided with the fourth round of reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Egypt.

At the bilateral business forum, Assad stressed the political dimension of closer business co-operation with Austria, arguing that peace offered a chance for economic growth and more jobs, which would help fight extremism.

“We are working for peace,” the president said. On Monday, he had reiterated that Israel must give back the occupied Golan Heights to Syria and accept a two-state solution with the Palestinians before peace talks with Damascus can begin.

Assad was accompanied by his wife Asma, Deputy Premier Abdallah al-Dardari and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, was due to travel to Slovakia.