JEDDAH, 17 August 2007 — Saudi Arabia said yesterday that Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara’s recent comments contained several “lies and fallacies” when he criticized the Kingdom for not playing a leading role in Arab solidarity, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
“The Kingdom cannot stoop to the level of Shara in discarding the traditions and customs governing relations between the brotherly Arab nations,” the statement said.
The statement went on to clarify the Saudi government’s position on the Syrian vice president’s remarks, which included taking credit for efforts in forging the Feb. 8 Makkah Agreement that brought Fatah and Hamas to the holy city to try to work out differences between the two Palestinians factions.
“The Kingdom is very keen on having good relations with the Syrian people and government,” the statement said. “Now the relations have been soured without Saudi Arabia playing any role in it. Shara knows who are responsible for this situation.”
The statement also rejected the Syrian leader’s charge that Saudi Arabia has been “paralytic” and has not been doing anything for Arab and Muslim unity.
The charge, the statement said, “would not come from a sane and balanced person, because everyone — not only in the Arab and Islamic world, but also the whole world — knows about the Kingdom’s role in bringing about this unity. Perhaps it was a slip of Shara’s tongue when he said ‘paralytic’; maybe he was referring to his own policy.”
The Kingdom has never refused or will ever refuse to participate in meetings aimed at the unity, empowerment and solidarity of Arabs, said the statement.
“The problem is not in the stance of the Kingdom but in the stance of those who have turned away from Arab unity and worked to spread anarchy and toward the destabilization of the region — a stand they would not dare to admit,” the statement added. “They believe that they can deceive the Arab and Muslim Ummah while their actions speak loudly of their evil intentions.”
The statement addressed directly Shara’s claims that Syria played a key role in the finalization of the Makkah Agreement. “Shara’s claim that the Makkah Agreement and its articles were agreed upon in Damascus is an unforgivable slur on the Palestinian leadership,” the statement said. “The whole Arab and Muslim world witnessed how the Kingdom took the initiative by inviting the Palestinians to Makkah with the aim of ending the bloodshed in Palestine at a time when nobody heard a single word from Shara about the Palestinians’ sorrow... Saudi Arabia does not want to add anything to this topic as the Palestinian brothers are capable of clarifying their stand.”
The statement from the Saudi government highlighted the country’s efforts in defending Syria’s claims to the Golan Heights. “The brotherhood between the Syrian and Saudi peoples is real and has been cemented through various trials and crises,” the statement said.
