Jerusalem  - The return of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday.

In an interview with Israel Radio, his first with the Israeli media since taking office in March, Lieberman clarified remarks in which he was quoted as calling the 2002 Arab peace initiative "dangerous" and a "formula for the destruction of Israel."

Israel's Ma`ariv daily on Wednesday quoted him as making the remark earlier this week in an internal Foreign Ministry discussion.

Asked about the Arab peace initiative, which offers normalization of ties between Arab states and Israel in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war, Lieberman said:

"I really referred to one aspect of that same initiative ... There is a central clause which I don't accept and which cannot even be on the table. It is not open to discussion."

He was referring to a clause in the peace initiative, which calls for a "just solution" to the Palestinian refugee problem "based on" UN General Assembly resolution 194. The December 1948 resolution says that all refugees of the war that erupted after Israel's creation in May 1948 should be allowed to return to their homes, and that those who choose not to should be paid compensation.

"Whoever wants to preserve Israel as the state of the Jewish people, cannot discuss the right of return," said the leader of the ultra-nationalist Israel Beiteinu party, the largest coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling hardline Likud.

Lieberman would not confirm Israeli media reports he had been invited to Egypt by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, who met with him in Jerusalem Wednesday despite a diplomatic spat.

"I don't like to talk not about invitations, not about visits," he said. "Not everything needs to be announced. That's how I've managed myself for many years."

Lieberman called his meeting with Suleiman, the highest-ranking Egyptian official to visit Israel since the Netanyahu government took office in March, "interesting" and "fascinating," insisting it "had been planned long ago."

Egypt had initially said it would avoid the outspoken Lieberman unless he apologized for past remarks in which he had insulted President Hosny Mubarak. Lieberman had told parliament in October that since the two countries had a peace treaty, Mubarak should either visit Israel or "go to hell."

"Today it is maybe clearer than ever" that Egypt and Israel faced common threats and shared common interests, he told Israel Radio.

"There is an opportunity here for cooperation. We must not focus on what was."

Lieberman again rejected the immediate resumption of negotiations on a final peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israel must "first of all" ensure its security, help build the Palestinian economy and work on stabilizing the region, he said - conditions the Palestinians have rejected as a pretext for putting off serious peace negotiations indefinitely.

The peace process launched at a major November 2007 summit in Annapolis, Maryland by the previous Israeli government and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, lacked any "logic," he charged.

The Annapolis process called for implementing confidence-building measures on the ground under the 2003 international "road map," while at the same time holding negotiations on a final peace deal.

Lieberman demanded the sides first implement their part of the road map, before starting negotiations on a final peace agreement.

"We have commitments and we are willing to abide by them. Also the Palestinians have commitments," he said. "It cannot be one-sided. Everything must be two-way."

The road maps calls on the Palestinians to combat militants, and on Israel to uproot settlers' outposts and freeze construction in West Bank settlements.

The Palestinians argue they have implemented many of the road map's clauses by carrying out democratic reforms, incorporating former gunmen in the Palestinian security forces and holding elections, while Israel has yet to uproot settler outposts and continues to build in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (dpa)