JEDDAH, 3 November — The former Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, has stated that there is now a good opportunity to finally establish peace in Afghanistan and added that Saudi Arabia will play a principal role.
Prince Turki, who was director of intelligence in the Kingdom until the end of August, made this comment during an interview with Arab News and the MBC Arab television, which will air its first part this evening. The remaining episodes will be broadcast during next week.
In the wide-ranging interview, Prince Turki talked about the Afghan issue, the future of Afghanistan, and the Saudi interest in the issue. Prince Turki had been in charge of the Kingdom’s Afghan affairs for about quarter of a century and knows most of the influential parties of the issue.
Prince Turki talked extensively about Osama Bin Laden who he said was known in the past to have been a "gentle and nice" person. But he strongly criticized the person Bin Laden had since become. "I have observed changes in his personality after 1990 and he has become arrogant. He wants to play roles that are bigger than he is."
Prince Turki also spoke on the Taleban movement, giving details of his two visits to Kandahar, the stronghold of Taleban, where he met with its leader Mulla Muhammad Omar. Saudi Arabia had tried to convince the Taleban to hand over Bin Laden, he pointed out.
Jamal Khashoggi, deputy editor in chief of Arab News in Jeddah, conducted the interview. An expert on Afghan affairs, Khashoggi covered the Afghan war between 1988 and 1993 and has interviewed Osama Bin Laden on several occasions.
