Visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Saturday that the efforts to revive an Arab states-initiated peace proposal are an opportunity for all the Middle East parties concerned to restart the stalled peace process.

The Arab League summit last month once again referred to an Arab peace initiative that outlined the right path for reaching a peaceful settlement for the Arab-Israeli conflict.

That was a positive sign that reactivated the diplomacy from all parties toward ending the conflicts between the Arab world and Israel, Prodi told reporters after meeting with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz.

He said his government is willing to join efforts toward implementing the peace initiative.

Prodi also said that it was time to consider cooperation with the new Palestinian government.

The new Palestinian national unity government, grouping Hamas and the relatively moderate Fatah as well as other minor factions, was sworn-in on March 17.

But the United States, the European Union and Israel are still reluctant to deal with it, citing that it falls short of recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.

Norway was the first European country to announce a direct resumption of funding and contacts with the Palestinian government.

The Arab initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, calls for Israel's pullout from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of ties with Arab states.

In the declaration issued at the end of the summit, Arab states vowed to stick to the option of a just and comprehensive peace as their national strategic aim in accordance with the peace initiative.

Source: Xinhua