MOSCOW, 19 April — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal called yesterday for swift action to end the violence in the Middle East, saying the torn region was on the verge of an abyss.
“Events in the region are heading for an abyss, and they will fall in it if nothing is done to control them in the immediate future,” Prince Saud told reporters after talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov.
The prince described the Saudi peace initiative as “the final stage that the Arab- Israeli relations can achieve if Israel withdraws from the Arab lands which it occupied in 1967 and with the founding of the state of Palestine and the return of the refugees to their homes.”
The Saudi peace initiative drawn up by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to end the Arab-Israeli crisis has won international backing.
“What we see happening in the Jenin refugee camp and in many other places is reaching the point where these actions can be called war crimes,” Prince Saud said.
Ivanov said Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed “efforts must be made to move toward an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces, as well as the lifting of the siege on Arafat’s compound.”
“We are seriously concerned with the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories,” Ivanov said.
“Urgent action must be taken to improve the situation of the Palestinian people.”
Russia is a co-sponsor of the stalled Middle East peace process along with the United States.
Prince Saud also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday.
The prince handed a message from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Fahd to President Putin, on the developments in the Middle East and other international and regional issues.
Putin expressed his deep concern over the latest developments in the Occupied Palestine and the plight of the besieged Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders.
The president also expressed his fullest support for the Saudi peace initiative to solve the Middle Eastern crisis.
Putin also underscored the coordination between the two countries to keep the oil price steady in the international market.
He also called for strengthening the economic cooperation between the two countries.
