EGYPT: Condoleezza Rice begins Middle East tour by meeting four Arab foreign ministers to explore Arab views on steps towards peace with Israel

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a Middle East tour on Saturday by meeting four Arab foreign ministers in the south Egyptian town of Aswan to explore Arab views on steps towards peace with Israel. Just a few days before an Arab summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Rice says she wants Arab governments to add some "active diplomacy" to an Arab peace initiative launched in 2002. The four foreign ministers are from countries friendly towards the United States -- Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In Aswan Rice will also meet intelligence chiefs from the same four countries, officials said. The summit will reconfirm for the fifth successive year the Arab initiative, initially rejected by Israel because of its demand that Israel withdraw from all Arab land captured in 1967. But Israel and the United States have recently shown some interest in the Arab peace plan and Rice told reporters on Friday the Arab governments could help by adding an element of active diplomacy. She did not make specific proposals. She also suggested Arab governments take steps towards conciliation with Israel before an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is complete. Their peace plan offers normal relations with Israel after Israel and the Palestinians make peace. The secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said on Saturday Arab states had no intention of modifying their initiative to make it more palatable to Israel. On Sunday (March 25) morning Rice will have talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at a meeting expected to touch on Egyptian domestic politics and constitutional changes which will go to a national referendum on Monday (March 26). Rice said on Friday the United States was concerned and disappointed by the constitutional changes, which human rights and Egyptian opposition groups have called a step away from freedom and democracy. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit dismissed her criticism as unwarranted interference in Egyptian affairs. Rice will go on to Israel and the Palestinian territories, where she hopes to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a common set of issues to discuss, after scepticism about the US commitment to pursuing peace.

ITN Source | March 27, 2007

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