Arab states promote revival of Arab League Mideast peace process

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CAIRO - Arab foreign ministers met Wednesday to promote a plan to revive the deadlocked Middle East peace process amid wide Arab fears the recent war in Lebanon helped boost the influence of Iran and the militants it supports.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the 22-nation body will discuss a plan to request a ministerial meeting by the UN Security Council to advance efforts to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, through direct talks among Israel, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Bahrain's foreign minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who chaired Wednesday's meeting in Cairo, said in an opening speech that "a credible and real effort" is needed to put the peace process back on track.

But it's unclear what - if anything - the UN is prepared to do. And reaction from Israel and the United States also so far has been tepid.

In July, the Arab League announced that the Middle East peace process, based on the so-called Road Map, was dead and accused Israel and the United States of blocking efforts to resolve the conflict.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/759621.html