JEDDAH, 17 September 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday ruled out the possibility of a sectarian war between Muslims of the region on the basis of religious schools of thought. “The Arab region will not witness wars between Muslims, whether it be on the basis of madhab (school of thought) or any other reason. No sect will dominate the other. Contrary to what some analysts say, this will not happen,” the king asserted.

In an interview with Kuwait’s Assiyassa newspaper, King Abdullah welcomed the decision by Palestinian leaders to form a national unity government. “Forming a Palestinian national unity government is the way to achieve peace in the Middle East, the path which we have all chosen and for which Saudi Arabia has presented a comprehensive plan,” he told the Arabic daily.

While he was crown prince, Abdullah presented a peace plan adopted by the Beirut Arab summit in 2002. The plan calls for Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from Arab lands seized in the 1967 war.

“We presented this peace plan in order to refute Israeli claims that Arabs were not students of peace but that they were students of war,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the king as saying in the interview.

King Abdullah predicted a bright future for the region. “I can foresee that the situation will improve in terms of many issues now troubling us.” However, he pointed out that progress in Middle East peace would depend on future negotiations.

In his wide-ranging interview, the king also spoke about the Kingdom’s economic reforms. “The state has been revising its economic laws to improve them further and make them compatible with the demands of the current phase,” he said, adding that the revised regulations benefit both Saudi and foreign investors. “By revising economic laws, we intend to achieve a qualitative economic development,” he said. The new laws, he added, would be soft and flexible.

Abdullah said Saudi Arabia was maintaining good relations with the US administration. “There is understanding between the two countries on international issues. We often advise the administration on the way they should deal with certain issues and in most cases they listen to our advice.” He said the government would make efforts to improve relations between the two peoples.

The issue of inter-GCC ties also came up during the interview and the king said Saudi Arabia would make all-out efforts to strengthen the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and preserve its unity. He said budget surpluses achieved by GCC states as a result of soaring oil prices were opportunities for them to improve their economies, modernize infrastructure facilities and improve the welfare and prosperity of their societies.

He said the Kingdom would not be distracted by provocative statements, whatever their sources. “We’ll swallow our anger for the sake of our people in the region.”

He urged the GCC to work for promoting its joint interests, citing the Kingdom’s real estate agreement with the UAE for the economic city as a good example. He denounced the move by some parties to destroy the GCC.