Foreign Ministers of the Arab League threatened to withdraw the Saudi Arabia 2002 peace plan "in the light of the complete rejection of the hand stretched out," Arab League secretary Amr Moussa said Wednesday. The plan calls for Arab states to recognize Israel in return for a total withdrawal from all areas, including the Old City and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, restored to the Jewish state in 1967 after the Six-Day War.
Another part of the initiative demands that Israel allow the immigration of several million Arabs who now live in Arab countries and claim to be descendants of 600,000 Arabs who were encouraged by Arab nations to flee Israel during the 1948 War of Independence. The countries promised the residents they would return after the expected annihilation of the new State of Israel.
The Arab league ministers stated Wednesday, "For the Arab side to continue to offer the Arab peace initiative, it will be linked with Israel's implementation of its basic international commitments."