Posted on 05/10/2002 5:44:00 PM PDT by RCW2001
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, Editor in Chief, Asharq Al-Awsat LONDON, 11 May — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has laid out the conditions for establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. “The withdrawal of their forces will not be enough in itself. They must return to the pre-1967 borders, end their occupation of Jerusalem (which will be the capital of Palestine), and allow refugees to return to their homeland. Moreover, Syria should get the Golan Heights, and Lebanon its remaining occupied land,” he said. Prince Abdullah made this statement in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, a sister publication of Arab News. The interview appears in the Arabic daily today. “If this can end the plight of five million Palestinians and restore the lands of three countries, ensuring stability in the region, wouldn’t (full diplomatic relations) be a price worth paying?” the crown prince asked when queried on diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. In a wide-ranging interview which covered the US plan to attack Iraq, Saudi oil policy and the opening up of the Kingdom’s telecommunications industry, Prince Abdullah said there was no need to declare war against any country if it complies with UN resolutions. “Global relations are based on international law. The US can deal with Iraq the same way it did with its neighbor Cuba, despite their differences,” he said, and called upon Baghdad to implement all UN resolutions. “The US administration has promised us it will do good on the Iraqi issue,” he pointed out. The Saudi crown prince denied that there had been any foreign pressure on the Kingdom to influence the way it formulates its oil policies. “The OPEC countries decided a reasonable production ceiling. Is it reasonable to believe that all these countries accept pressure? In the Kingdom, we will not allow anybody to influence our national decisions in any way,” he stated. Prince Abdullah, who attracted global attention when he presented a new Middle East peace proposal, which has since been endorsed by all Arab countries, said he had frank and open talks with President George W. Bush during his recent visit to the United States. “My intention was to get the Saudi, Arab and Islamic voice — especially the voice of the Palestinians — heard by the decision-makers in the United States,” he added. “I was fully convinced that there is no conflict between US and Arab interests. And we wanted to convince the American side that making peace will also serve their interests... I did not go to Houston with the intention of presenting negative ideas. I am by nature optimistic and I don’t know despair. God will find a way out for those who fear Him,” he explained. Referring to US press reports that the crown prince was angry during his talks with Vice President Dick Cheney, Prince Abdullah said: “We exchanged our views frankly, with mutual respect.” Prince Abdullah also said all his talks in the US focused on two issues: the siege on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Israeli crimes in Jenin. “We believed that there was no point in restarting peace talks before bringing to an end the present tragic situation” he added. “We want to have relations with the United States based on mutual respect. We will not threaten them and we will not accept any threat from them. This has been the nature of our relations for more than 60 years. At the same time, we don’t accept to be on the right or left of anybody. We will decide our place (Continued from Page One) as per our views based on the Islamic faith and our values and morals and our Arab and Islamic interests.” Prince Abdullah said President Bush had helped make their meeting a success. “He arranged a comfortable place for our meeting and increased the time allotted for it and the time was enough to discuss the situation... The president was considerate of our views and proposals.” He said the president was moved when he was shown the pictures of Palestinians massacred in Jenin. He said he explained to the US side that Arafat is the elected president of the Palestinian people and is not talking only on behalf of himself. “President Bush accepted our views humanely and was touched by the injustice being suffered by the Palestinians. He insisted on the need to set up a Palestinian state while the Israeli forces were trying to disband the Palestinian Authority. We understand the political situation in America and we don’t want to comment on it. President Bush called for the establishment of a Palestinian state. He was the only US president to make such an announcement. We wanted to push things in this direction peacefully, and will not give in to any obstruction.” Asked whether he would have threatened to cancel the peace initiative if Israel did not lift the siege on Arafat, he said: “We told the US side frankly that there will not be any initiative without ending the existing crisis. In political dialogue, there is no place for threats.” Asked when the Palestinian state would be realized, he said: “We cannot make any promise. What we are doing is to try our best in the interest of the Ummah. We will not be disappointed by crises. We have strong faith in God.” Referring to the allegation that the Saudi peace proposal was to improve the Kingdom’s image after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said: “Saudi Arabia does not need to improve its image. Our country is well known for its moderate and responsible policies over the years. Then why do we need to improve our image.” He also highlighted the Kingdom’s initiatives to reinforce peace in Lebanon, to reconcile Algeria and Morocco. Asked why the crown prince had disclosed his peace plan to an American journalist like Thomas Friedman, he said: “This is not true. He asked me: why don’t you support a comprehensive peace settlement in return for total Israeli withdrawal? Then I told him this is our stand and this is what I wanted to present at the Beirut summit. If any other journalist had asked me the same question I would have told him the same thing.” He said it was too early to talk about the Kingdom’s role in any future talks. “The priority is now to alleviate the suffering of our brethren in Palestine. We will exert our efforts to restore full Arab rights.” Asked whether the Kingdom would play a mediating role between Washington and Baghdad, he said: “We are trying to cool down the situation but we believe that the Iraqi leadership alone can solve this crisis and foil the efforts of those who try to escalate the conflict.” He reiterated the Kingdom’s opposition to any attack on Iraq and expressed his hope that things would not reach that stage. He said they had not discussed the issue of Sept. 11 terror attacks. “The US knows that we have condemned the attacks. Saudis are not known for terrorism. But there are exceptions in every society. We have suffered a lot because of terrorism, like the US and other countries.” On the participation of Saudis in military operations abroad, he said: “We have already banned participation of our citizens in any military activities. But the stage is open for charity work,” he added. He said the government had passed a number of laws to organize relief and humanitarian work to reach aid to the deserving. The crown prince denounced the anti-Islamic smear campaign and said “Islam is against aggression and terrorism. I don’t know any system like Islam which protects all living creatures including humans and animals, and even trees.” On giving refuge to former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the crown prince said: “We requested that President Musharraf release Nawaz and the president honored our request. We appreciate that. We want to see Pakistan free of chaos and problems. We have very good relations with President Musharraf.” He underscored the government’s efforts to create a suitable atmosphere for the success of privatization. He said efforts were under way to float part of Saudi Telecom Company for public subscription before the end of this year. The government will also sell its shares in some joint stock companies. The private sector will meanwhile be allowed to invest in desalination projects, seaports and other ventures. Prince Abdullah added that the Saudi press must uphold its credibility by making sure that it reported facts. “Saudi society wants the press to play its full role and speak freely about social problems and issues and, and to criticize shortcomings in performance.” He said the existing press law could be revised in tune with new developments.
Oh yeah, and all the Jews should convert to Islam and/or drop dead.
Hurry up and pulverize Iraq so we can stop pretending these clowns are our friends and end this farce.
These jumped up arab "royals" are good for comic relief, I suppose. Somehow, they're getting harder to snicker at. It's about time to shut them up.
The current border between Israel and Lebanon is as agreed to by Israel and Lebanon, and as sanctioned by the UN, and represents the pre-1967 border.
Most of the Prince's stated "demands" would probably be subject to negotiation in good faith -- if such a thing were possible in the Middle East. However, re-introducing this bogus claim strikes me as intentionally provocative.
I wouldn't be so hasty about condemning a right of return out of hand. In fact, it's such a good idea that I'm sure the Palesterrorists' EUroweenie butt-buddies would extend it to Jews, and the descendents of Jews, who lost their property during WW2 and the run-up to it.
;-]
This B.S. of trying to keep up good relations with these autocracies in the islamic world is starting to wear me thin.
I say we cut full ties with all non-democratic Arab nations and treat them as we did the Eastern bloc durring the cold war.
First we need to get some Texas wildcaters over to Russia and show them how to get the oil out of the ground there. Then we get Mexico, Venesuela, and all of the Americas out of OPEC. and make them sign long term supply treaties.And last but not least lets go get our oil thats up in ANWR and stop all the horses%it!
Without a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem there will be no peace. The Israelis have a choice.
His proposals for 'peace' are fantasy.
Big war is a certainty, and he'll soon be able to read the Koran by the light of Baghdad's radioactive glow.
But the way things have been lately, I'm sure there are a lot of "professionals" at the State Department (and major University Political Science Departments) who think that this may well be "incredibly helpful" on the "path to peace".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.