RIYADH, 11 January — Saudi Arabia urged the United States yesterday to eliminate the causes of tension in the Middle East as part of its global anti-terror campaign.
"If this campaign should extend to the Arab world, we would hope that it will concentrate on eliminating the factors conducive to violence and tension," Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.
This should be done by "resolving outstanding problems that have deprived the region of stability and made it a victim of terrorism," he said.
Prince Saud said the war on terror would continue "so long as this phenomenon persists."
"War does not necessarily mean military confrontation so much as spreading awareness to counter destructive ideologies and eradicating causes of the phenomenon by working seriously to find just solutions to international crises," he said.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly clarified its tough stand against terrorism and backed the global crackdown on groups linked to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Speculation has intensified that the United States, which has led the campaign to flush out Bin Laden and his followers from Afghanistan, is about to start a new phase of the assault on international terrorism, possibly taking in states such as Somalia, Iraq or Sudan.
Prince Saud said a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian problem hinged on "the cooperation of Israel, which must put an end to its policy of repression and terrorism against the Palestinian people."
This policy had proved its failure to "entrench the occupation and impose a fait accompli," Prince Saud said. Instead, "it has increased the Palestinian people’s determination to resist the occupation," he added.
The Kingdom has often criticized Washington for its blind support for Israel during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and for applying dual standards in favor of the Jewish state.
