Saudis Consider Attending Peace Talks

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister indicated Wednesday that his country could attend a Middle East peace conference proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush for later this year in what would be the kingdom's first official meeting with Israel.

If Saudi Arabia does attend, it would be a major diplomatic breakthrough. The kingdom has no diplomatic ties with Israel, which — along with the United States — has been hoping to open direct contacts with Saudi Arabia to push the Arab-Israeli peace process forward.

"When we get an invitation from the minister (Rice) to attend, when this takes place, we will study it and we will be keen to attend," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said at a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"We are interested in the peace conference, one that deals with the heart of the peace process, the issues of peace, the core issues, not one that is just a podium for meetings and talk that do not enrich peace," he said.

His comments suggested that Saudi Arabia's attendance may be conditional on the agenda of the gathering.

Arab countries have been pressing for the conference, expected to be held in September, to make real progress in peacemaking, unlike past gatherings that have dealt mainly with symbolic issues and confidence-building measures.

Saudi Arabia's primary interests include the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. "These are issues that have so far been deal-breakers for either side, and have been off the table for discussion," reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, traveling with Rice.

"Senior officials told us that basically what the Saudis are saying is that the White House has come up with many of these elaborate plans before and never followed through. They want to see that the U.S. is serious about this, that it's really going to bring something to the table, some sort of sacrifice from the Israeli side, before they sign up to show up," Dozier said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement reacting to al-Faisal's comments that it hopes "many Arab countries will attend this international meeting, including Saudi Arabia."

Saudi attendance would be a major victory for U.S.-Israeli efforts to bring the kingdom into open talks with Israel.

There have been reports of secret meetings in past months between Israeli and Saudi officials, which both sides have denied. Saudi Arabia sent officials to the 1991 Madrid Conference that launched the Arab-Israeli peace process, but they attended as observers along with other Gulf Arab nations, not as participants.

A public meeting with Israel would likely raise opposition among hard-liners at home in Saudi Arabia.

But a meeting could also boost a Saudi-backed Arab peace plan that the kingdom has put considerable political capital in promoting. The plan offers Israel full peace with Arab countries if it withdraws from all Arab lands siezed in 1967.

Olmert has said he is willing to discuss the proposal but has urged direct contacts. Last week, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan — the only Arab nations with peace treaties with Israel — traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the plan.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said at the time that more Arab countries would be willing to join direct talks with Israel if it meets a series of conditions — including ones Israel has long resisted, such as a halt to the building of settlements and of a security wall in the West Bank.

Al-Faisal also said Saudi Arabia would consider reopening an embassy in Iraq and continue to support U.S. efforts to pacify the country. Saudi Arabia has not had an embassy in Baghdad since the first Gulf War in 1990.

"We expressed our hope (to Rice) that we will work closely with Iraq regarding security aspects, especially terrorism," the foreign minister said.

A regional heavyweight and a top U.S.-ally, Saudi Arabia has been blamed for not being supportive enough of American efforts in Iraq.

In March, the Saudi king called the U.S. presence in Iraq an "illegitimate foreign occupation," reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar, and the Saudis have also refused to meet Iraq's prime minister, saying he is too close to Iran.

U.S. intelligence says at least 45 percent of foreign fighters in Iraq are Saudis, MacVicar reports, and U.S. officials say Saudi Arabia has still not done enough to stop donations to charities that end up in terrorists' pockets.

The Saudi foreign minister insisted his country was supportive of the Iraqi government.

"As an indication of our good intentions, we let their (soccer) team win," al-Faisal said, referring to Iraq's soccer victory over Saudi Arabia in the final of the Asia Cup earlier this week.