WASHINGTON: Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah told US President Barack Obama on Monday that Arab states will act on their peace initiative only once Israel "implements and fulfills its obligations." "I affirmed to President Obama that we are interested in bringing about peace in the Middle East. It is in our interest that peace be brought about," the emir said through a translator as he met with Obama at the White House. The visiting leader noted pan-Arab support for the initiative presented by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and stressed, "We will implement this peace initiative when Israel implements and fulfills its obligations." The Arab peace initiative offers Israel full normalization of ties in return for its withdrawal from occupied Arab land and the creation of a Palestinian state. It also calls for "a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees to be agreed upon in accordance with the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 194," which the Jewish state has repeatedly rejected. The fate of the Palestinian refugees and their descendants who fled or were driven out of their homes in what is today Israel in the 1948 war -- now numbering 4.6 million -- is a core issue in the Middle East conflict. Obama thanked Kuwait for hosting US troops in support of operations stemming from the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and said he and his guest would discuss the conflict in Afghanistan, counterterrorism cooperation, pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, and the Middle East peace process. "And I'm confident that, based on this conversation and ongoing work between our two countries, that we can strengthen not only Kuwaiti-US relationships, but also to create a more stable region of peace and security," said Obama. LINK