In a speech to the Defense and Security Forum, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to Britain, presented the war on terror from the Saudi perspective. His speech was made following the attack on the US Consulate in Jeddah last week.
“I believe there is no justification for terrorism of any kind anywhere,” Prince Turki was quoted Monday by the Arab News daily. “The horrific indiscriminate killing of innocent people goes against the basic belief of civilized man and the sanctity of innocent human life.”
A major factor in fueling terrorism, he stressed, was the double standards applied to the Middle East by the US. “The world has used a set of double standards in dealing with our region, one rule for Israel and another for everyone else.”
When any other country flouted UN resolutions, he said, the reaction was ultimately swift and hard. “Israel has repeatedly flouted a multitude of United Nations resolutions calling on it to halt its aggression, to withdraw to agreed international borders, and to cease unlawful and forceful acquisition of property and land.” No action has ever been taken against Israel to force it to comply with even one of these resolutions. Instead the international community - and specifically the United States - has continued to supply Israel with billions of dollars worth of arms and support. “The idea of American and British soldiers invading Israel to force it to comply with UN resolutions appears to be as fanciful as the idea that the world will be invaded by men from Mars.”
“I believe, as do many others, both within and without the Arab world, that our fight against terrorism and for peace and stability will never succeed until a just and comprehensive solution is found for the Palestinian people in which they have the right to self-determination. This comprehensive peace requires determined action from the international community and particularly from the leading powers in the United Nations.”
Referring to the 9/11 attacks and others in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, he said that the "attacks and the challenges we face in countering are global in perspective and have a global effect on stability, security, and economic well-being."
“The acts of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are wholly wicked and totally unjustifiable. They defile Islam.”
