Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mesha'l has assured Saudi Arabia his movement is loyal to Arab states, the Kingdom's Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said Tuesday. “I asked Khaled Mesha'l whether the movement stood with Arabs or with others,” Prince Saud said. On Sunday in Riyadh, Mesha'l said Egyptian-led talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian movement and its rival Fatah were close to bearing fruit. “Mesha'l insisted that Hamas was an Arab movement and that the Palestinian question was an Arab issue,” the Saudi minister said at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The exchange between Prince Saud and Mesha'l occurred Sunday during a visit by the Hamas leader to Saudi Arabia. Prince Saud's visit to Egypt is part of a string of regional meetings aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which have been stalled for a year. The Middle East News Agency (MENA) said that Al-Faisal delivered a message from King Abdullah to Mubarak addressing developments in the region, the peace process, and the coordination of Arab positions. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II were in Egypt Monday for talks with Mubarak, a week after a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Prinnce Saud also held talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Tuesday. Diplomats in Damascus said efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process were “near the top of the agenda.” The two also discuss conflicts in Yemen and Iraq, diplomats said. Prince Saud had on Monday paid a visit to Kuwait as he conducts a tour of Arab nations including Syria to coordinate positions on various regional and international issues. US President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, but the Palestinians have demanded Israel first freeze all settlement activity and commit to a framework for the talks.
