HOUSTON, 28 April — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal yesterday reiterated Saudi Arabia’s demand for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force, instead of observers, in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat daily, a sister publication of Arab News, he also disclosed that Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, had handed over a Palestinian document to US President George W. Bush to end the standoffs in Ramallah, Jenin and Bethlehem.
“We believe that the ground realities warrant the deployment of a peace force. We are not demanding observers but a shield which can protect people from attacks. So we proposed an international force, which will also monitor the borders,” Prince Saud said.
Deployment of an international force is one of the eight points proposed by the crown prince during his talks with Bush on Thursday to establish peace in the Middle East.
But Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa insisted that the Arab peace plan endorsed by last month’s Beirut summit be included in the new eight-point Saudi peace proposals to achieve a long-term Middle East peace settlement.
“The eight-point document, which is not official since it has not been made public by Saudi Arabia, can only be (viewed as) complete if coupled with the Arab (peace) initiative,” Moussa told reporters in Dubai.
The document is meant to deal with “an existing situation,” but “the ninth point is the Arab initiative ... which envisages a comprehensive solution” to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Moussa said. The Arab plan offers normal ties with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from Arab lands seized in the 1967 Middle East War.
Prince Saud emphasized the need for implementing the peace plan as quickly as possible. “The previous peace negotiations had taken about 11 years. This is not acceptable. It will harm the peace process. The time factor is very important,” he added. He said Riyadh will not take part in the peace talks with a threatening spirit.
The Saudi chief diplomat dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to hold an international peace conference as ridiculous. “How can he call everybody to the conference without calling the concerned parties,” he added.
In an interview with CNN, Prince Saud said Saudi Arabia and the United States shared a Middle East peace vision with the states of Palestine and Israel living side-by-side in peace and security.
He said the talks between Prince Abdullah and Bush were aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process. “There is an understanding on the complex situation (in the Middle East) and the need to return to the peace track,” the prince said and urged all influential parties to play their role quickly to improve the situation before the crisis leads to a disaster.
Prince Saud said the Kingdom and the US have agreed on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state. “President Bush has strongly called for the Israeli withdrawal. But Israel rebuffed the call despite the support of the United States and its president for it.”
Prince Abdullah’s peace plan was intended to be a comprehensive outline of how to move quickly toward a long-term resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
“It indicates all the areas . . . from (Israeli) withdrawal to reconstituting the Palestinian Authority, to start discussions on the basis of a peace all sides agree to,” Prince Saud said.
The eight points of the proposal given to Bush were: Complete Israeli withdrawal from areas under the Palestinian Authority; an end to the Israeli military siege of Ramallah, where Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has been trapped in his headquarters for four weeks; deployment of a multinational force; the reconstruction of destroyed Palestinian areas; a renunciation of violence; the immediate initiation of political talks; an end to Israeli settlements; and implementation of U.N. Resolution 242, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Prince Saud said Riyadh and Washington will continue their serious dialogue to reach an agreement on better ways to settle the Palestinian issue and revive the Middle East peace process. He reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for global efforts to fight terrorism.
Adel Al-Jubair, a senior adviser to the crown prince, told reporters that Prince Abdullah had warned President Bush of the anger in the Arab world at US support for Israel.
Prince Abdullah yesterday visited the library of former US President George W. Bush Sr. in Spring Area, Texas. It is the tenth presidential library in the United States and is considered as a center for preservation of the national history and university research works.
The library was established in 1991 as a charitable foundation, and was officially opened in 1997. Prince Abdullah presented to Bush a number of Islamic books as a gift which included a commentary of the Holy Qur’an.
