Posted on: Saturday, February 23, 2002

EDITORIAL
Slight ray of hope in grim Middle East

At week's end, vague talk by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of security buffers between Israel and occupied territories seemed to offer the prospect of an extended and bruising quagmire, while U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that in his view, the region was "sliding toward full-fledged war."

It was only from the unlikely direction of Saudi Arabia that a hopeful note was sounded.

Sharon's proposal raised the specter of another Lebanon, an 18-year national ordeal in which Israeli forces endured heavy losses as they occupied the part of that country as a buffer to protect Israel's northern border. Israel abandoned its occupation in May 2000.

The only positive sign came in a somewhat bizarre offering from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, in a peace proposal that he leaked last week to a New York Times columnist.

Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the Times reports, is prepared to offer "full normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the territories claimed after the 1967 war." His country would also normalize trade and guarantee Israel's security.

Abdullah said he had a speech containing that proposal in his desk drawer, and was thinking about reading it at an upcoming forum of Arab leaders. As such, it was a trial balloon, but it quickly gathered favorable response in Washington as well as a few other Arab capitals.

Abdullah's proposal may not be ready for prime time quite yet, but it seems likely all parties will agree it offers more hope than buffer zones or war.