Arab statement lists old, stale demands

BEIRUT, LEBANON - Waiting for Saudi Arabia to present a new Mideast peace initiative, Arab leaders fell back on their long-held stance Tuesday, drawing up a list of demands for Israel ahead of a key summit. <br> <br> After the two-day gathering opens Wednesday, the leaders were expected to deal with the Saudi peace plan, which has heightened interest because it would offer Israel full peace in return for a complete withdrawal from Arab lands it has occupied since 1967. <br> <br> In the meantime, foreign ministers gathered here were drawing up a draft final statement similar to those produced by past summits - demanding a withdrawal and other steps but saying little of what Israel would get in return.<br> <br> Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat&#39;s attendance at the summit, meanwhile, remained uncertain Tuesday. Israel has linked his departure to reaching a truce agreement, but is under international pressure to let him go. <br> <br> ``Arafat has the right to come,&#39;&#39; Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told Associated Press Television News. ``If the Israelis prevent him, this will be illegal and this will add to our determination to work for a just peace and to counter the illegal actions by the Israelis.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, however, was quoted Tuesday as saying Arafat should be wary of attending, pointing to threats by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to bar Arafat from returning home after the summit. <br> <br> ``I advise Arafat not to come to Beirut and to (instead) address the summit by satellite audio-video,&#39;&#39; Mubarak was quoted as telling the respected independent daily newspaper An-Nahar in an interview Monday.<br> <br> ``The moment he leaves, Sharon will stir up incidents after which he will destroy the last offices of the Palestinian Authority and force it to remain outside,&#39;&#39; Mubarak said. <br> <br> Sharon has suggested he may not allow Arafat back if there was violence during his absence or if the Palestinian leader did not ``speak on the importance of peace and regional stability&#39;&#39; at the summit. <br> <br> Top PLO official Farouk Kaddoumi said in Beirut that he expected Arafat to come. ``Inshallah (God willing), President Arafat will attend, but without conditions,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Meanwhile, the draft final statement being worked on Tuesday underlined Arab leaders&#39; commitment ``in the light of the relapse of the peace process ... to refrain from establishing any new relations with Israel,&#39;&#39; according to a draft made public by Lebanon&#39;s National News Agency.<br> <br> It also affirmed that ``comprehensive and just peace can only be achieved with Israel&#39;s complete withdrawal from Arab territories it occupies,&#39;&#39; singling out for mention Syria&#39;s Golan Heights and a patch of land claimed by Lebanon, the Chebaa Farms. <br> <br> It repeated previous calls for Israel to give Palestinians all their rights, including an independent state with Jerusalem as the capital the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the release of all Arab detainees in Israeli prisons. <br> <br> The initiative that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is expected to present during the summit makes similar demands but goes a step forward by making a firmer offer of peace with Israel. <br> <br> Mubarak, in the interview with An-Nahar, outlined what he said were the five points of the plan. The first three, he said, deal with an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab land, Palestinian statehood and resolving the issue of Palestinian refugees. The other two address peace as a necessary strategy for Arabs and Israel. Details were not provided. <br> <br> Since Abdullah floated his proposal last month, Arab diplomats have been trying to work out a key point of contention - whether to offer Israel full normalization of relations or a comprehensive peace, the latter considered a more vague pledge. <br> <br> Mubarak, however, said: ``There is no difference between normalization and peace.&#39;&#39; Once the three main issues are resolved, ``nothing can stand in the way of saying the Arab-Israeli conflict will be solved.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In the draft statement, the Arab leaders would also promise $55 million a month to Arafat&#39;s Palestinian Authority for at least the next 6 months. <br> <br> The statement also rejected ``the use of force or any threats&#39;&#39; of force against Iraq - a reference to concerns that Iraq will be the next target in the U.S. war against terrorism. The statement said the use of force against Iraq or any Arab country would be considered ``an infringement on the region&#39;s security and stability.&#39;&#39;