Arab News gives its wrap-up for the Rice/Gates visit to Saudi Arabia, leading with the news that the country intends to take part in the international peace conference intending to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It highlights the fact that this would be the first official meeting to have Saudis seated at the same table as Israelis. The report expresses some ‘wiggle-room’ through which the Saudis could back out if there were some calamitous event to take place in the region, but the intention is clear.

The report also covers the discussions about regional affairs, including Iran’s nuclear aspirations. Worth reading.

Kingdom Gives Boost to ME Peace
Siraj Wahab, Arab News

JEDDAH, 2 August 2007 — In a major push toward the creation of an independent Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the upcoming US-sponsored Middle East peace conference.

Addressing a press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Conference Palace here yesterday, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal indicated that the Kingdom may attend the make-or-break conference tentatively set for September. The conference’s venue is yet to be decided but it will most likely be held in the United States.

“We are interested in a conference that deals with the substantive matters of peace, the issues of real substance,” said Prince Saud. “If that does so, it becomes of great interest for Saudi Arabia, and should we then get an invitation from Secretary Rice to attend that conference we will look very closely and very hard at attending it.”
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