Al-Faisal says Israel commited war crimes against Palestinians
Saudi Arabia-Russia, Politics, 4/19/2002

The Saudi foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal in Moscow on Thursday described what had happened in Jenin camp of the Palestinian West Bank as "war crimes" and called for practicing pressures on Israel, similar to those pressures made on the chairman of the Palestinian authority Yasser Arafat.

After his talks with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov, followed by talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi foreign minister said "If we call on Yasser Arafat to stand against terrorism, we also have to call on Sharon to halt aggression and economic pressure on the Palestinians and to stop humiliating them."

Al-Faisal added "in the framework of this logic we should not talk about the responsibility of one side only, rather about the need to achieve the obligations of the two sides." Concerning what happened in Jenin camp for the Palestinian refugees, al-Faisal said "there are testimonies indicating that what happened in Jenin refugees camp and other places reached the extent when we can talk about war crimes." He added "information about war crimes do not appear in the mass media," stressing that journalists were prevented from working inside the Palestinian territories.

Later in the day, al-Faisal met with Putin who expressed his concern over the fate of Yasser Arafat saying "we are deeply concerned over the developments of the situation." The Russian president expressed support for the initiative proposed by the Saudi crown prince Abdullah for a settlement with Israel. The same position reiterated by Ivanov, who commended the efforts made by Saudi Arabia to establish peace and stability in the Middle East and the Gulf region.

Al-Faisal' visit to Moscow lasts two days durinh which he is to discuss the Iraqi question, which Putin described as a "sensitive matter." Al-Faisal said while Ivanov was standing by his side that both Riyadh and Moscow have dealt "similarly with the situation in the Middle East." He noted "we have always tried to find outlets to get out of the crisis on the ground of serving the interests of the Iraqi people and preserving Iraq's sovereignty and independence."

Al-Faisal and Ivanov noted the need of the Israeli forces withdrawal from the Palestinian territories without delay and to lift Arafat's isolation. The Saudi minister said "regrettably, what we hear from the Israeli side does not go in that direction." He considered it as "unfair" that the international community "hold the responsibility of events equal on the Israelis and the Palestinians."

Al-Faisal added that in this case, we should therefore deal equally with the two sides regarding to requested matters. He explained "if we ask the Palestinian President to condemn the aggressions, we have also to ask the Israelis to stop their aggression." Al-Faisal said "How many times are the Palestinians expected to repeat their condemnation to terrorism."

Worthy mentioning that al-Faisal's visit to Moscow comes few days before the expected visit to be held by the Saudi crown prince to the US on April 25th.

Previous Stories:
  Saudi foreign minister to visit Moscow   (4/17/2002)
  European leader: Israel is a terrorist state   (4/13/2002)
  Saudi foreign minister gets a message from Russian peer   (3/19/2002)
  Russian deputy foreign minister in Saudi Arabia   (11/7/2000)

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