Desire for peace behind king’s stance on Egypt

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s firm support for Egypt at its hour of crisis reflects his desire to reinforce peace and stability in the Arab and Islamic world, said Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Kattan on Sunday.
Speaking to the heads of Egyptian associations abroad at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo, Kattan said there is nothing surprising about King Abdullah’s stance on Egypt.
“Whatever the king does for the Arab and Islamic Ummah shows his love and affection for them,” the ambassador said, adding that the king’s noble stances were inspired by the teachings of Islam.
The Egyptian groups abroad had previously sent messages of greetings and gratitude to the king in appreciation of his historic support for Cairo against terrorist designs.
King Abdullah’s stand toward Egypt was instrumental in changing the global perception about the new Cairo government, the ambassador said while highlighting the strong Saudi-Egyptian relations.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has reiterated its appreciation of Saudi Arabia’s support at a time when other countries have looked the other way.
“The words of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah came at the most pressing time when other countries are turning a blind eye to terror and criminal activity being perpetrated in Egypt,” Abdul Al-Ati, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, told an Arabic daily.
Al-Ati noted that the king’s words carried a clear message to the international community that Saudi Arabia had full trust in the will of the Egyptian people. “The use of the term ‘terror’ in the king’s statement stressed that the events in Egypt were acts of terror, though its perpetrators have masked them under the label of peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations. The outside world became convinced of the real situation in the country after viewing the video films and photos proving terrorist motives,” Al-Ati added.
He said Egyptian interim President Adli Mansour lauded the Saudi stance in a statement issued in response to King Abdullah’s words and affirmed that Egypt was not only defending itself but also striving to protect the Arab and Muslim world against the menace of terror.
“Our people will never forget those who stood by them at their hour of crisis. They will also not forget those who stood against their will,” he said, adding that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Palestine, besides most other Arab countries, supported Egypt.
The king made the statement in support of Egypt because he realized that Egypt’s stability was strategic to the stability of the entire Arab world in addition to its key role in making joint Arab activities successful, Al-Ati observed.
He added that Cairo would never forget King Faisal’s declaration of an oil embargo against the Western world, which showed a clear bias toward Israel in the 1973 war.
The spokesman asserted that his country would come out of the crisis as it had done in the past. “Egypt has always been able to solve major issues with the support of its sisterly countries, particularly the Kingdom and other Gulf and Arab countries.”