Saudi King Condemns U.S Occupation of Iraq
By REUTERS
March 28, 2007
Filed at 8:50 a.m. ET
nytimes.com
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, right, attended the opening ceremony of the Arab summit in Riyadh.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told a summit of Arab leaders that Sunni-Shi'ite violence in Iraq threatened the stability of the oil-producing Gulf region and he called for an end to the international blockade on the Palestinian people.
``In beloved Iraq, blood flows between brothers in the shadow of illegitimate foreign occupation and hateful sectarianism, threatening a civil war,' he added.
But his focus was on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which Sunni Arab leaders see as a major cause of violent radicalism in their own countries and threat to regional stability.
In his speech to Arab monarchs and presidents at a two-day meeting in his capital, the king called on Arabs to overcome their disputes and unify to face dangers threatening them in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.
``It has become necessary to end the unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people as soon as possible so that the peace process can move in an atmosphere far from oppression and force,' the king said.
Saudi Arabia last month brokered a unity government between the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Islamist group Hamas in the hope the international community will end a crippling economic blockade.
Israel insists it will not ease its financial restrictions on Gaza and the West Bank but some countries have agreed to talk to non-Hamas members of the government and increase aid.
The two-day summit comes against a tense regional backdrop, with fears high among Arab leaders that a U.S.-led attack on non-Arab Iran, which has refused to comply with U.N. demands to halt atomic work, could further destabilize their region.
Riyadh, pressed by its ally Washington to show more leadership in the region, has called on Sunni Muslim states to overcome divisions, arguing a united front will help persuade Israel to address Palestinian grievances.
U.S.-allied Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, see the hand of Tehran in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
PALESTINIAN FOCUS
Arab League chief Amr Moussa pressed Israel to accept unchanged a 2002 Arab initiative being revived at the summit.
``The Israelis response was to ask for an amendment. We tell them (Israelis) to accept it first,' Moussa told Arab leaders.
The Arab peace plan offers the Jewish state normal ties with all Arab countries if it fully withdraws from land it occupied in 1967, accepts a Palestinian state and agrees to a 'just solution' for Palestinian refugees.
Israel has objected to key elements in the plan, including the proposed return to 1967 borders, the inclusion of Arab East Jerusalem in a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees to homes in what is now Israel.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged leaders not to compromise on the right of refugees to return to homes lost in the turmoil surrounding the creation of the Israeli state.
Haniyeh, who is also leader of Hamas, said his group would not oppose the Arab plan, but would not give in on refugees.
``I expect the Arab summit to reiterate the Arab countries' commitment not to compromise in any way on the Palestinian refugees right of return under any circumstances,' Haniyeh said.
A final draft resolution calls for a ``just solution' to the problem of Palestinian refugees who fled their homes in 1948 but avoids any mention of the phrase ``right of return.'
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to take up the offer, calling it a last chance for peace with Muslims.
``This initiative simply says to Israel 'leave the occupied territories and you will live in a sea of peace',' Abbas said on Tuesday. ``If this initiative is destroyed, I don't believe there will be another opportunity in the future like this.'
Riyadh has exercised its diplomatic muscle recently to stem Palestinian infighting and to try to ease a feud between the Western-backed government and an Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition in Lebanon.
Copyright 2007 Reuters Ltd. |
