"Looking forward without placing blame on any party in an effort to restart Middle East peace negotiations is the objective of the Arab world," said Shaikh Al-Khalifa, who spoke on behalf of the Arab foreign ministers at the high-level meeting in the UN Security Council on Thursday. The Ministerial Council of the Arab League is convinced that this is time to appropriate to re-launch the peace process, and an important opportunity to end the current stalemate, Sheikh Al-Khalifa told council. All 15 members of the Security Council had their Foreign Ministers on hand, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was present, but did not speak. Israel sent its UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, who spoke, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also addressed the council. Sheikh Al-Khalifa presented the main elements of the Arab Initiative, including requiring the full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories; arriving at a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; and accept the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with holy Jerusalem as its capital, he added. The Middle East, the land of milk and honey, has become, over the last century, the land of blood and tears, according to Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Foreign Minister. China calls on Israel to lift its blockade against Palestine, dismantle the separation wall and facilitate the supply of humanitarian assistance to Palestine, he added. Annan told participants of the meeting that all parties, including the Quartet, composed of Russia, US, European Union, and UN, must rise to their responsibilities. And so must this council. Al-Khalifa also invoked the council in his statement, asking in a three-point plan that the council initiate negotiations between the parties, with an agreed terms of reference with a set timeframe. The second point requested that the UN Secretary-General prepare a report on how to resume direct negotiations, while the final point asked the council to reconvene after the report at a ministerial level to consider further measures. After the meeting, Rice told reporters that she was planning to return to the Middle East, but was unsure as to when. The US president directed me to work with moderate leaders in the region and also to assist the parties to the degree that we can to resolve outstanding differences between them, she said. We really want to see the conditions created where we can have acceleration of the Road Map where we can return to the access and movement agreement that was negotiated so that economic life can return to the Palestinian territories. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/391565