CASABLANCA, Morocco, 10 April — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, told the United States yesterday that its credibility in the Middle East would suffer if it fails to rein in Israel.
“We told the US secretary of state that Washington should take the initiative to implement President George W. Bush’s statement calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Palestinian land,” the crown prince said.
In a statement after talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell here on Monday, the Crown Prince Abdullah said a quick US action to stop the Israeli aggression was necessary to protect Washington’s credibility in the Arab and Islamic worlds and its interests in the region.
“We, and the whole world, realize the role and weight of the United States,” Prince Abdullah was quoted as saying by Saudi Press Agency. “The pressure tools in the hands of the American administration enable it to stop the blood bath caused by the Israeli government’s actions against our brothers in Palestine,” the crown prince told Powell. “What is happening in Palestine is an insult to the whole of humanity,” he added.
Crown Prince Abdullah said the United States was not doing enough to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose policies were undermining Washington’s declared war on terror.
“At a time when the US is exerting serious and huge international efforts to fight terrorism, we see Sharon — who claims to be a US ally — doing everything in his power to sink this effort,” the crown prince told Powell.
“In fact he (Sharon) is trying to make the world believe the massacres he is carrying out in Palestine are in line with what the United States is doing to fight terrorism,” Crown Prince Abdullah said, adding that there was a “vast difference” between a terrorist and a freedom fighter.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia yesterday transferred $15.4 million in advance aid to the Palestinian Authority. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said the transfer was made to an Arab League fund in accordance with a decision taken at the Beirut summit.
