ACCEPT PEACE PLAN OR FACE WAR, ISRAEL TOLD
By David Blair, in Riyadh
The Daily Telegraph/UK
28/03/2007
The "lords of war" will decide Israel’s future if it rejects a
blueprint for peace crafted by the entire Arab world, Saudi Arabia’s
veteran foreign minister warned yesterday.
As leaders began gathering in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for today’s
summit of the Arab League, Prince Saud al-Faisal told The Daily
Telegraph that the Middle East risks perpetual conflict if the peace
plan fails.
Saudi foreign minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal, right, and Amr Moussa,
Secretary General of the Arab League
Under this Saudi-drafted proposal, every Arab country would formally
recognise Israel in return for a withdrawal from all the land captured
in the war of 1967.
This would entail a Palestinian state embracing the entire West
Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. Every Arab country
will almost certainly endorse this blueprint when the Riyadh summit
concludes tomorrow. Prince Saud said Israel should accept or reject
this final offer.
"What we have the power to do in the Arab world, we think we have
done," he said. "So now it is up to the other side because if you want
peace, it is not enough for one side only to want it. Both sides must
want it equally."
Speaking inside his whitewashed palace, surrounded by luxuriant lawns
and manicured flower beds resembling a green oasis in the drabness
of Riyadh, Prince Saud delivered an unequivocal warning to Israel.
"If Israel refuses, that means it doesn’t want peace and it places
everything back into the hands of fate. They will be putting their
future not in the hands of the peacemakers but in the hands of the
lords of war," he said.
Prince Saud dismissed any further diplomatic overtures towards
Israel. "It has never been proven that reaching out to Israel achieves
anything," he said.
"Other Arab countries have recognised Israel and what has that
achieved?
"The largest Arab country, Egypt, recognised Israel and what was the
result? Not one iota of change happened in the attitude of Israel
towards peace."
Israel has numerous reservations about the Arab peace plan – which
was previously proposed at a summit in 2002. Israel fears any hint
that Palestinian refugees would have the right to return to their
homes in the event of a peace settlement.
Prince Saud is the 66-year-old son of the late King Faisal. Relieved
of the need to seek re-election, he has held office for 32 years.
Flush with oil money, Saudi Arabia is playing a more assertive role
in Middle Eastern diplomacy. As well as securing the Arab peace plan,
the Kingdom brokered the agreement between Hamas and Fatah – the two
Palestinian factions – to form a unity government.
But western diplomats in Riyadh believe this resurgence in Saudi
diplomacy stems from more than the kingdom’s oil boom.
The menacing spectre of Iran, the rising Shia power with nuclear-tipped
ambitions for regional dominance, looms large across the waters of
the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia is quietly moving to contain its bellicose
neighbour. Prince Saud offered conciliatory words to Iran, laced with
coded criticism. "We have no inhibitions about the role of Iran,"
he said. "It is a large country. It wants to play a leading role
in the region, and it has every right to do so. It is an historic
country. But if you want to reach for leadership, you have to make
sure that those you are leading are having their interests taken care
of and not damaged."
Saudi Arabia has privately urged Iran to stop enriching uranium,
in compliance with United Nations resolutions and lay to rest any
suggestion that it is seeking nuclear weapons. Prince Saud called for a
"Middle East free of nuclear weapons" with "no exceptions for anybody,
be it Israel or Iran".
Asked whether the kingdom would consider seeking nuclear weapons
of its own if Iran managed to acquire a bomb, Prince Saud replied:
"We have made it very clear that we are not going down that road
under any circumstances."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress