Jiddah, Saudi Arabia ? Crown Prince Abdullah said he will press the Arab League to back a Saudi land-for-peace offer to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, a top EU official said Wednesday.

Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader since King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995, had a 60-minute meeting Wednesday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in this Red Sea port city.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, left, meets with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Abdullah detailed his land-for-peace plan to the EU envoy. Others in the photo are unidentified.

Solana was the first Western envoy to discuss Abdullah’s proposal, which calls for Israel to withdraw from Arab territory it occupied in the 1967 Mideast war, including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, in return for the Arab world’s recognition.

The proposals have been welcomed by the Palestinians and several Arab countries, and the United States has called it a “note of hope,” though stopped short of considering it a breakthrough. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Solana earlier he wanted to know more about the plan, according to the EU envoy.

Abdullah told Solana that his plan, which appeared in Saudi and U.S. press reports, arose from his deep concern about the Palestinian-Israeli fighting, according to Solana’s spokeswoman Cristina Gallach.

“He considers the situation to be critical and that the region was going through a crucial time,” Gallach quoted Abdullah as saying in the meeting.

“He said he was determined to push forward with his ideas and would work with the Arab League to turn it into an initiative to be considered by next month’s Arab summit in Beirut,” Gallach said.

Abdullah, she said, asked for the EU’s support and Solana pledged it.

In Washington, Abdullah’s policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir said the proposal was a vision not a blueprint for borders. “We are not in the real estate or zoning business. It’s really up to Israel, the Palestinians, Lebanon and Syria to negotiate, because it’s their land,” he said. “The idea is to send a signal to the Israeli public that peace is possible.”