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Pro-U.S. Arab States Mobilize Against Israeli Unilateralism
(AFP/Yahoo) Hala Boncompagni - Pro-U.S. Arab leaders from Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are launching a diplomatic offensive to try to revive talks between Israel and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and head off Israeli threats to impose a unilateral peace. But analysts voiced skepticism about the attempt. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday for talks, while Jordan's King Abdullah II is to meet the Israeli premier in mid-June. "There are clear Arab and Palestinian attempts to form an international front to put pressure on the Israeli government to relinquish its plan for a unilateral withdrawal," said Hassan Barari, a researcher at the University of Jordan's Center of Strategic Studies. Barari said "the emergence of a real Palestinian partner" was key to the efforts to head off Israeli unilateralism. "That is why Arab efforts to make Israel refrain from a unilateral withdrawal must be matched with pressure on the Palestinians."