Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal reiterated Saturday kingdom’s demand for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force, instead of observers, in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Speaking to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily, he also disclosed that Crown Prince Abdullah 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.
This 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.
Meanwhile, top Saudi officials appeared ready on Sunday to delay their departure from Texas as talks continued with the Bush administration about a proposed peace plan for the Middle East.
The Saudis had been set to leave on Sunday, but said it was now likely they would stay an extra day.
Saud al-Faisal was tentatively scheduled to hold a news conference on Monday in Houston, officials said.
Whether the change in plans meant progress in the talks was not clear, but Saudi officials spoke in positive terms about a meeting on Thursday between Abdullah and President Bush at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The five hours of talks between Abdullah and Bush in Texas helped clear the air and set the stage for future actions, Saudis told Reuters.
"The clouds have been cleared from our bilateral relationship," a high-ranking Saudi ambassador told the news agency. "It is critical now that the president of the United States think only of leadership, not politics."
Bush said after the meeting that he and Abdullah had established a strong personal bond as they talked, then went on a tour of his ranch. The Saudis agreed.
"The biggest thing is that the two met and formed a personal relationship. I think that's the biggest breakthrough," said an official from the Saudi embassy in Washington.
"They hit it off very well -- I mean, he took him off for an hour in his pickup truck on a tour of his farm," the official said. "When the crown prince picks up the phone, he knows the person who's giving him answers is a person he can trust." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
