Posted on 10/13/2001 2:53:08 AM PDT by kattracks
he Saudi prince whose $10 million donation Mayor Giuliani angrily threw back at him because it came with a slap at America called the blowup a "big misunderstanding" yesterday.
And he suggested it was Rudy's fault.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal offered no apology for his remarks and instead repeated his belief in an interview with CNBC that the World Trade Center was attacked because U.S. foreign policy has harmed the Arab world.
There was no immediate comment from Giuliani.
Alwaleed gave Giuliani a check for $10 million Thursday after the mayor took him through Ground Zero.
Later, the prince gave reporters a written statement saying the terrorist attack occurred because the U.S. allowed Palestinians to be "slaughtered" by Israelis.
Giuliani later told Alwaleed to keep his money and said the statement "only invites this happening in the future" and is "part of the problem."
In a phone interview, Alwaleed said, "I am a friend of America and New York" as well as an admirer of Giuliani who agrees with him "100%" that the twin towers attack was a crime that must be punished.
But he insisted there was "no connection" between his donation and his political statement, saying "the mayor misunderstood this whole thing ... then put it in a very different a wrong context."
The mayor is under "tremendous stress," he said, and maybe "he could not see the overall picture."
"At the end of the day, the U.S. is going to eradicate and extract the roots of terrorism," the prince said.
But, echoing his original statement, he said the U.S. "has to look at the roots of it in the Middle East. And the roots of this is really Palestine."
He said part of the solution must be to give all of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem to the Palestinians, saying, "There's no room for compromise."
The Saudi described himself as "almost a citizen of New York" who has "a lot at stake" in the city's health and success.
He's the second largest individual shareholder in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which owns the Fox TV network and the New York Post, and has a number of other holdings.
Since Sept. 11, Alwaleed said, he has invested "around a billion dollars" in U.S. companies.
The mayor sees perfectly clear shieky babe and so do millions of Americans.
Dump the sheets too shieky next time you come here you look like a character from an old Sinbad movie.
Agreed, its long overdue.
Our foreign policy is why he even has a dime to his name. Saudia Arabia nationalized the US oilfields over there and our foreign policy was not to declare war on them. When Iraq was poised to crush their kingdom with his army our foreign policy was to save them from attack. To this day, our foreign policy is to patrol over and around Iraq to protect his monarchy. He better watch his mouth or our foreign policy might change to something he really doesn't like.
How much to support terrorism?
FREEZE his ASS---ETS Dano!
....nothing like a diaper strapped to the head with a fanbelt to garner my respect!
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