JEDDAH, 20 January — Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman ibn Hamid Al-Khalifa yesterday called on Arabs and Muslims to take "some responsibility" for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. He also called for a dialogue to resolve differences. He was giving the keynote address on the first day of the third Jeddah Economic Forum which continues till Monday.
In his no-holds-barred speech to politicians, diplomats and many of the country’s business leaders, he also called on GCC countries to accept criticism and to combat dishonesty. "We have to fight corruption, particularly administrative corruption." He also criticized the speed at which GCC unity is proceeding and the lack of willingness to accept change. "Not enough economic sovereignty has been given up," he said. GCC countries wanted closer union, "but we are not willing to make the sacrifices."
Referring to the serious damage the Sept. 11 attacks had done to the international Arab image, he said that governments had to do all in their power to fight "this sort of Islam which is not correct in its interpretation". He called it "self-destructive." Arabs need "to take responsibility for the actions of some of those individuals...We must be responsible," he told the forum, held at Jeddah’s Hilton Hotel.
There are two keynote addresses today, one by former US President Bill Clinton, and the other by Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal.
In the opening address to the forum, the Governor of Makkah, Prince Abdul Majeed, said that the event was a sign to the world that the Kingdom openly welcomed foreign investment.
The theme — "Managing in complex global environment" — explores the world economic environment and how countries can come together through trade and investment and achieve greater understanding and cooperation.
"We must study what happened, (on Sept. 11), why it happened and make sure it never happens again," the Bahraini Crown Prince said. "All Muslims and the West should analyze why the attacks on the US occurred. Just as surely as we want the US to take some degree of responsibility for the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, we should look to ourselves for Sept. 11. We must address what’s wrong in our societies that caused this misinterpretation of Islam," Salman said. "People need to see us acting so that it never happens again."
On the development of the GCC, he said that it must break down internal trade barriers and diversify away from oil. "The Gulf’s economy must develop with the rest of the world.
The Gulf market had to have transparency and clarity, fight administrative corruption and allow constructive criticism if it is to encourage outside investors," Salman said.
"All of us have competitive advantages that we try to hold on to like low labor costs in some and low cost of energy in others. But if we want to unify then what we need to do is to bring our economic structures in line," he later told reporters.
