JEDDAH, 29 January — Director of Intelligence Prince Nawaf has warned that any action by the United States to weaken Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would destroy prospects for a peace settlement and have serious repercussions for the region.
In an interview to the New York Times published yesterday, Prince Nawaf was blunt in his criticism of US President George W. Bush for suggesting that Arafat had been promoting terrorism. He called Arafat “a man of peace”.
Referring to a boatload of weapons from Iran that was seized earlier this month by Israeli commandos, Bush said Arafat had been “enhancing terrorism”. And Vice President Dick Cheney said that the escalating violence in the Middle East, much of it prompted by Palestinian bombers, “raises serious questions whether Arafat is in fact really interested in moving forward with the peace process.”
Prince Nawaf challenged the criticism of Arafat and warned the United States not to punish him. “All the governments, the people of the region, believe that America is supporting Israel whether it is right or wrong, and now if something happens to Yasser Arafat, the feeling against American policy will be stronger,” the prince said. “Anybody will be able to use it to damage American interests in the area.”
Prince Nawaf acknowledged that the vast majority of Saudi young adults felt sympathy for the cause of Osama Bin Laden after Sept. 11, even though they rejected the attacks in New York and Washington. A classified US report taken from a survey of educated Saudis between the ages of 25 and 41 in mid-October concluded that 95 percent of them supported Bin Laden’s cause. Prince Nawaf confirmed the existence of the survey but not the findings. He attributed the support to people’s feelings against the US, largely because of its unflinching support of Israel.
Although he insisted that Saudi Arabia had no intention of asking the United States to remove its military presence, the prince said that the Kingdom would not support a campaign against Iraq or any Arab or Muslim country.
At a reception, held in connection with an annual National Heritage and Culture Festival, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, blasted Israel’s eight-week house arrest of Arafat, expressing hope he would attend the Arab summit in March.
“It is a very, very strange situation to see a leader being jailed. This has never happened before,” Prince Abdullah told a group of Arab writers and thinkers attending the Janadriah festival late Saturday.
Asked what message he would send to Bush about the war on terrorism, Prince Abdullah replied: “My advice to President Bush is to pursue the interests of the United States. This will solve everything.”
The crown prince has repeatedly called on the US administration to become more engaged in resolving the Palestinian crisis and has criticized Washington for what he sees as its refusal to put pressure on Israel.
For his part, Prince Nawaf said that, if Arafat left the scene, no other Palestinian would make peace. “If the US is going to make it worse by cutting ties with Arafat, who will come to make a peace settlement? I’m telling the Americans: You can accuse Arafat of anything except that he is not a man of peace,” he said.
