Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, said Israel should withdraw from more occupied Arab lands after Gaza, indicating there can be no change in the collective Arab stand on Israel unless occupation ends. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said Arabs have reiterated their commitment to a just and lasting peace through the Arab peace plan, which Saudi Arabia initiated and Arab leaders adopted in 2002. "We have followed the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza very closely," he said. "This withdrawal should be followed by further withdrawals from the Palestinian and Arab occupied territories since 1967, and lead to the realization of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital." Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who was Saudi Arabia's crown prince then, proposed a peace plan that was adopted by an Arab summit in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2002. The plan calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the West Bank and traditionally Arab east Jerusalem, which would all be part of an independent Palestinian state. The Arabs also demand Israel give up the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria. --more 2246 Local Time 1946 GMT
