TEL AVIV, September 27, 2007 (WAFA)-Saudi Arabia's foreign minister(FM) said that Israel should freeze construction in West Bank settlements and on the separation Wall in order to attract Arab states to a planned peace conference, Haaretz reported Thursday.

Speaking to a group of journalists, Prince Saud al-Faisal revealed that the Arabs would not attend the U.S.-organized conference, expected to be held in the Washington area in November, unless Israel took such measures.

Al-Faisal, attending the annual UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders, said he had been encouraged by discussions between Arab ministers and international mediators on Sunday that there was a serious attempt to revive the peace process.

"There is a sense that there is something new happening, and this is encouraging if it is going to prove right," he said.

"We are waiting to see, but the language we have heard... such statements that failure is not an option... that the intent is to look at the final status issues, the important issues and not the peripheral issues... this is what we have always asked for."