Ramullah, 26/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting with the High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana, Yasser Arafat said he favoured the relaunch of negotiations with Israel over security issues that the Palestinian Authority had broken off when Israel prevented Chairman Arafat from leaving Ramullah. He told journalists that he could not refuse the request from "our friends the European Union". Javier Solana welcomed the initiative by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah for peace in the Middle East, saying it was similar to the Jordanian-Egyptian initiative and the EU's approach but what counted here was more the message-bearer since Saudi Arabia is now getting directly involved and assuming responsibility with regard to the other Arab countries. Javier Solana is to meet Prince Abdullah on 27 February in Jeddah, and will go on to Cairo and to Amman.