Solana to meet Saudi officials over Mid-East peace plan

The European Union’s foreign policy envoy, Javier Solana, will travel to Saudi Arabia today to discuss the details of a Middle East peace plan put forward by Crown Prince Abdullah.

Under the plan, Israel would completely withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories in return for a normalisation of relations with all Arab nations.

The new initiative has offered a glimmer of hope for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian violence and some Israeli officials, as well as the US administration, have welcomed it.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a suspected Palestinian militant near the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank today.

Israel said he was trying to plant a bomb near Israeli tanks when he was killed. An Israeli factory worker was also shot dead by a Palestinian gunman north of Jerusalem today.