Saudi peace plan 'intriguing' but must wait, U.S. says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bush administration officials called a Middle East peace proposal by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah "intriguing" Tuesday, but said the plan is unworkable until Israeli-Palestinian violence subsides.

A senior Saudi official briefed the State Department about the crown prince's ideas Friday, officials told CNN. The proposal centers around recognition of Israel and full normalization of ties with the Arab world in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territories it has held since the Six-Day War of 1967.

"It is significant that they presented it, but it isn't doable for now," one senior U.S. official said. "The short term needs to be about what we can all do to help the sides climb down."

President Bush called Abdullah on Tuesday, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said. The president "praised the crown prince's ideas regarding full Arab-Israeli normalization once a comprehensive peace agreement can be achieved," Fleischer said.

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But he noted that the Saudi ideas could only follow a comprehensive peace deal, adding that Bush's "fundamental belief" is that the security work plan introduced by CIA Director George Tenet last year and the steps in the Mitchell report were the "best path, best process to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement."

One State Department official said that while the Saudi initiative was a "significant, positive development," it was presented more as ideas of what the Saudis would accept as a final settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians, rather than a concrete proposal.

"Arafat is always saying he doesn't have full authority in a settlement, that he has to check with the Arabs," this official said. "Well, this is what the Saudis could agree to."

Officials said that the importance of the Saudi initiative is that it suggests Israel's Arab neighbors are able to take the "middle ground" and help toward movement on the political track.

"They not only are saying they would recognize an Israeli state, but that they could live with partial control of Jerusalem, some settlements on the West Bank, as long as the Israelis give comparative land back to the Palestinians," one official said. "That is huge."

The senior official added that the possibility of peace talks would also hinge on how engaged the United States was prepared to be as mediator between the parties. But the administration official said the White House was not ready to send its special envoy, retired Marine Corps. Gen. Anthony Zinni, back to the region.