The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Cairo

Egypt and Saudi Arabia backed an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference Saturday as a way to set the stage for a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, an Egyptian official said. It was still unclear, however, whether the two countries would attend the conference, scheduled for late November in Annapolis, Md. Arab countries have been reluctant to commit to attending without guarantees that the meeting will yield firm results. "Egypt and Saudi Arabia have a clear stance, that is to welcome the meeting because it comes after long years of a frozen peace process," said Suleiman Awaad, a spokesman for Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. He spoke after a meeting between Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah. Awaad said Mubarak and Abdullah expect the meeting to "set up the final solutions t within serious negotiations and a timetable." Saudi officials did not comment after the meeting. In September, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country would probably not attend the conference if it did not tackle substantive issues.