JEDDAH, 18 February — Saudi Arabia would consider normalizing relations with Israel and swaying the Arab League to do the same if Israel carried out a full withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, The New York Times said yesterday, quoting Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
“Full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with UN resolutions, including Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations,” Prince Abdullah told the US daily’s Thomas Friedman.
In his interview, the crown prince revealed that he had written a speech along those lines to deliver before the 22-member Arab League in March, but shelved it when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took a harsher stance against the Palestinians.
“I changed my mind about delivering it when Sharon took the violence, and the oppression, to an unprecedented level,” Friedman quoted the crown prince as saying. The quotes came from an off-the-record dinner conversation, which Prince Abdullah later agreed could be placed on the record.
Prince Abdullah told the New York Times columnist he wanted to communicate to the Israelis that the Arab world did not “reject or despise them”. What they reject is Sharon’s actions.
“The Arab people do reject what their (Israeli) leadership is now doing to the Palestinians, which is inhumane and oppressive,” Prince Abdullah said, adding that his speech would have been “a possible signal to the Israeli people.”
Asked whether he would be prepared to revive his proposal if Sharon and the Palestinians were to agree to a cease-fire before next month’s Arab summit, the crown prince responded: “Let me say to you that the speech is written, and it is still in my drawer.”
Saudi Arabia has always been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause and has been calling for a just settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute based on UN resolutions.
The Kingdom has been extending moral and material support for the Palestinian struggle right from the time of King Abdul Aziz.
In reply to another question, the crown prince expressed himself against any attack on Iraq or Iran. Such an attack “should not be contemplated at all,” he said and added that this “would not serve the interests of America, the region or the world.”
“Iraq is contemplating the return of (UN weapons) inspectors, and the US should pursue this because inspectors can determine if Iraq is complying with the UN resolutions” regarding weapons of mass destruction.
President Bush recently dubbed Iraq, North Korea and Iran the “axis of evil”.
Answering a question on the Sept. 11 attacks, the crown prince said, “We saw this attack by Bin Laden and his men as an attack on us, too, and an attempt to damage the US-Saudi relationship.”
The Kingdom was deeply saddened by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said and never expected it to lead to tensions between the two countries. “But we’ve now learned that we respond to events differently. . . . It is never too late to express our regrets,” the crown prince said.
