JEDDAH, 13 September 2007 — Saudi Arabia yesterday hinted that it might boycott a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference if the conference does not tackle core issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the fate of Jerusalem, and set a timetable to implement any deal.

“If this conference does not tackle the key issues such as Jerusalem, the borders, the Palestinians and other issues that were clearly stated in the Arab peace initiative, then the conference will be pointless,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told reporters yesterday.

“If a timetable is not set, then we will enter endless negotiations. Responsibilities must be reciprocal and not on one side only, and Israel must prove its seriousness by action on the ground,” the prince said.

Asked whether Saudi Arabia would attend the conference, the minister said: “The Kingdom’s stand is very clear. If there is no clarity on the issues to be discussed at the meeting and if it does not address the present situation, providing solutions and commitment, then it will not be an objective one.”

Saudi Arabia has been trying to bolster its role as a Middle East peace broker and took the lead this year in relaunching an Arab peace proposal at an Arab summit in Riyadh. That initiative, first launched in 2002, offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab states in return for its withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war and a just settlement for Palestinian refugees. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt comprise an Arab quartet set up this year to promote the Arab initiative.

Prince Saud signaled that Saudi Arabia would not take part in the peace conference expected to be held in November but hinted that Riyadh would consider joining a meeting that aimed to end the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all. “The Kingdom does not see any benefit in a meeting...that is not comprehensive and does not solve the key issues,” Saud said. “If the meeting does not meet these criteria, I doubt the Kingdom will take part.”

Prince Saud’s statement comes after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks in Jeddah on Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on strengthening Palestinian unity as well as the proposed Middle East conference. Abbas came to the Kingdom after reaching an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on creating teams to tackle Palestinian statehood issues ahead of the conference. But Israel cautioned against expecting any rapid progress in the run-up to the meeting set to be held in the Washington area.

Israeli officials said yesterday that Olmert was resisting pressure from Palestinians to set a strict timetable for implementing any statehood principles agreed at the conference. US President George W. Bush has called for the international conference, expected to be held in November, in order to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“Arab states have taken the position that if this conference is to succeed, it must tackle the major issues, have a defined timetable, and (impose) parallel commitments on both sides,” the prince said.

Responding to a question about the Saudi government aiming at initiating a new accord agreement between rival Palestinian parties, Prince Saud said, “There is no new agreement. If the Palestinian parties want to reconcile, then they need to go back to what they willingly agreed upon in the Makkah agreement.” The foreign minister expressed the need for rival Palestinian parties to reconcile before going to the Middle East conference.

He also dismissed a US claim that Saudi Arabia was not doing enough to fight terrorism, saying such public criticism did not match with what US officials say in private. “We hear every now and then that the Kingdom does not do enough. (But) when we meet officials, they thank us for the effort exerted by the government to combat terrorism,” said Prince Saud.

Prince Saud was responding to a question about remarks made by US Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey who criticized Saudi Arabia for not prosecuting terrorist group financiers.

“They (describe) our measures as one of the most effective on the international scene to confront terrorism, be it on the security or material fronts,” he said.

Levey told the US network ABC that not a single individual identified by the United States or the United Nations as a terror financier had been prosecuted by Saudi Arabia. “We are surprised at this comment, but we can only repeat that we are exerting every (possible) effort,” Saud said.

“If anyone has any doubt about that, let him tell us in what way we were lax and let him get familiar with the effort being exerted here. He will witness the extent of the Kingdom’s seriousness and credibility in this regard,” Saud said.

Regarding the opening of a Saudi Embassy in Iraq, Prince Saud, said, “We expect it will be opened soon.” He also welcomed the visit of the Syrian foreign minister to the Kingdom and hoped that it would help narrow differences on a number of issues.