Clinton: 'We're drafting proposal for ME peace'

IMRA/The Jerusalem Post ^ | May 28, 2009 | HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States would present detailed plans on the peace process to the parties as part of its efforts to jumpstart negotiations. "We are going to be putting forward very specific proposals to the Israelis and the Palestinians. That's what Senator Mitchell has been doing over the last couple of days," Clinton said at a press conference following her lunch meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Mitchell has been in London this week meeting with top Israeli officials Dan Meridor, minister of intelligence services, and National Security Council head Uzi Arad over issues including settlement activity and Iran... Clinton's comments went the furthest to date in suggesting that the US would make its own proposals... Jordan's King Abdullah during his own White House visit in April... said the Arab countries would themselves have to contribute to the process, a theme Gheit echoed during Wednesday afternoon's press conference... Clinton stressing that "we've also been reaching out to governments of Arab nations, asking what they could be expected to do as we move forward to build confidence and to create a good atmosphere for decisions to be made." US officials see the Arab League peace plan as providing a possible basis for negotiations. That plan calls for an Israeli withdrawal from all land captured in the Six Day War, as well as a resolution on the Palestinian refugee issue, in exchange for normalization with the entire Arab world.