WASHINGTON, 8 May — Israel’s Ariel Sharon has come to Washington with an agenda. Not only does he want to oust President Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinians, he also wants to drive a stake between US and Saudi relations.
Sharon says the alleged seized Palestinian documents he plans to show President Bush prove that the Saudi Interior Ministry has paid millions of dollars to families of Palestinian bombers and to the Hamas. "The Saudis wanted to cover this up," said Col. Miriam Eisin, an Israeli intelligence official who provided copies of the documents to reporters at the Israeli Embassy in Washington yesterday.
The Israelis allege the Saudi government gave $135 million in the past 16 months to help the families of Palestinian bombers and fund other aspects of the anti-Israel intifada, the intelligence officer said.
"The money goes to a list of 13 charities, and seven of them fund Hamas, which the State Department lists as a terrorist operation," Col. Eisin said.
The Saudi response was swift and furious. Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar ibn Sultan called the Israeli charges against his country "totally baseless and false." In a statement released last night, he said: "These allegations are a smoke screen intended to distract attention away from the peace process. Israel wants to discredit Saudi Arabia, which has been a leading voice for peace."
Prince Bandar, in his statement, said Saudi Arabia "is committed to helping the 3 million Palestinians who are victims of Israeli violence," including "killings, displacements, imposition of starvation and siege."
"This help includes financial assistance to the families of victims distributed through humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. This does not mean that Saudi Arabia is paying suicide bombers," he said.
The release of the documents appears to be a deliberate effort to complicate the Bush administration’s plan for a Middle East peace conference this summer, which includes a major role for the Saudis. Regarding the peace conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday told members at the Washington-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of the B’nai B’rith that the US strategy had three elements: ending violence, rebuilding accountable Palestinian institutions and taking political steps to resolve the conflict.
"We are working on a meeting to be held later in the summer where we can begin to bring together the different ideas, the different visions that exist with respect to security, with respect to economic development and with respect to a political way forward," said Secretary Powell.
This is the start of a hectic week for Mideast diplomacy and the State Department. Powell held separate talks yesterday with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Jordan’s King Abdallah and Israel’s Sharon.
After meeting with King Abdallah, Powell outlined the objectives of the proposed peace conference to reporters: "What we’ll be discussing with our friends in the weeks ahead is the nature of a comprehensive settlement or settlement that would involve way stations on the way to a comprehensive settlement." The US allies in the Arab world have made it clear to the US administration that they will not participate in a peace conference unless it addresses important issues.
Prince Saud and Powell are said to be in regular communication through daily telephone calls since the two men participated in the Bush-Abdullah summit in Crawford, Texas late last month. It is this new crucial Saudi-American partnership that has Israel worried. Though Israeli officials denied any political motivation, Sharon’s delegation yesterday put a lot of energy on criticizing Saudi Arabia.
"The Israelis, it appears, have not come to Washington to talk about peace, but rather to undermine those who want peace negotiations," Prince Bandar said in his statement last night.
