BEIRUT, 1 April — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, said yesterday that the Arab world was waiting to see concrete action from the United States to stop the Israeli assault on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

“We are doing our best to solve the present crisis. We have contacted our friends in the US and they have made promises and we are awaiting concrete steps based on these promises,” the crown prince told reporters before leaving here for Damascus.

The prince said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon only knew “the law of the jungle”, but added that the fact that many Israelis were not happy with Sharon’s campaign is heartening.

“The Israeli people have not opposed the peace plan,” he said in reference to the Saudi-initiated peace proposal adopted at the Arab summit. “The Arabs have offered Israel an olive branch. Now the ball is in the Israeli court.”

Prince Abdullah highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts during the past 60 years to convince the United States to take a just and balanced stand on the Palestinian issue.

“We asked the US to stop the Israeli aggression and they made promises,” he added.

Calling his disagreement with the US over Washington’s biased stand on the Palestinian issue a “thing of the past,” the crown prince expressed his hope that US President George W. Bush would do the needful to end the current standoff.

Speaking to a group of journalists representing The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Time Magazine, Reuters and CNN television, Prince Abdullah reiterated that the oppressive acts of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will only breed bombers. “What prompted that 16-year-old girl to carry out that bombing attack. It’s the various forms of oppression being committed by Sharon. He is the man who pushed this girl and others to this end,” the prince said about Aaeat Al-Akhras, a Palestinian girl who blew herself up in a shopping center in Jerusalem on Friday.

“That girl has passed away but her spirit will remain vibrant in the minds of every Arab,” Prince Abdullah said. “We are not at all surprised by the action of Sharon. But we in the Kingdom will not waver in the defense of our brethren in Palestine and Arafat is their leader. We strongly believe that justice will prevail in the end,” he said.

Asked about Israel’s plan to drive out Arafat from Palestine, the crown prince reiterated that regardless of whether Arafat was expelled, the Palestinian resistance would continue.

“Every Palestinian is a Yasser Arafat,” he added. He described the Israeli assault on Arafat, which came a day after the Arab League adopted a peace plan offering normal ties with Israel, as “brutal, inhuman and insane.”

Prince Abdullah, who initiated the peace proposal, yesterday met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, current chairman of the Arab League, to examine what action Arab states could take against Israel.

In Damascus, Prince Abdullah examined the “serious situation” in the Palestinian territories with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

“I believe that a large number of Israelis will not agree with what this man is doing. We hope that Sharon and its supporters will be swept away in the torrent of peace,” he added.

Prince Abdullah said he was still optimistic about peace. “A person who looks forward to future will not be pessimistic. And those who believe in God Almighty will not be depressed, because truth and justice will emerge victorious in the end,” he added.

The crown prince expressed his confidence that the Arab nation is capable of confronting the present Israeli challenge.

“We are a noble nation with a long history. It will not be shaken by a single person or persons, or by Israel or any other country.”

Prince Abdullah called on the Israeli people to read his peace proposal with reason. “It carries a ray of hope for all people in the region and I hope it would not be destroyed by the enemy of peace.”

He said that the Netaniya blast was not aimed at aborting the new peace plan. Referring to the efforts to reconcile Iraq and Kuwait at the Beirut summit, Prince Abdullah said: “It was a great achievement and in the interest of all. Nobody will benefit from continuation of differences. They have to reach an agreement, because their strength is in their unity.”

Prince Abdullah arrived in the Moroccan city of Casablanca later yesterday.