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U.S. delegation discusses Mideast with Saudi prince

Tenet
Tenet has played a major role in the White House's Mideast policy, meeting with Arab leaders and arranging security meetings.  


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- CIA Director George Tenet and a senior State Department official talked Thursday with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah about the Middle Eastern country's attempt to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. officials said.

Tenet and William Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, traveled to Saudi Arabia to discuss the crown prince's peace initiative.

Under the plan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states would recognize and normalize ties with Israel in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories back to the borders in place before the 1967 Six Day War, with minor adjustments.

The U.S. delegation's trip was hastily arranged as "a sign of appreciation" to the Saudis for their efforts to find a political solution, a senior U.S. official told CNN. But the visit does not signify a new U.S. policy on negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, the official said.

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"It's not a blueprint to deal with tactical circumstances right now, but it does come at a time of loss of hope," one official said. "So the ideas carry a lot of weight in the region."

A senior Saudi official briefed the State Department last Friday about Abdullah's proposal, U.S. officials told CNN. President Bush called the crown prince on Tuesday to praise his efforts.

Both Saudi and U.S. officials said a "comprehensive" peace would need to include Syria and Lebanon. And while calling the Saudi ideas "intriguing," Bush administration officials said the plan is unworkable until violence between the Palestinians and Israelis subsides.

But the proposal may indicate Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries' willingness to take the "middle ground" and help move peace talks forward, U.S. officials said.

The officials compare Abdullah's ideas to those presented by Secretary of State Colin Powell last November. In the speech, Powell laid out his vision of a peaceful coexistence of Israel and a new state of Palestine.

Thursday's talks represented the latest attempt by Tenet and other CIA officials to meet with officials in neighboring countries and arrange meetings between Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs. Tenet met with Abdullah in Saudi Arabia less than two weeks ago as part of a trip that also included stops in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Morocco.



 
 
 
 






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