Syrian President confers with Saudi crown prince
Saudi Arabia-Syria, Politics, 6/1/1998

Upon his arrival in Damascus on Sunday afternoon, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz met with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad at his residence at Tishreen Palace. Talks dealt with the situation in the Arab region and the Israeli government's policy which "undermines the Middle East peace process."

In an arrival statement at the airport, where he was welcomed by Syrian Vice-President Khaddam, Cabinet ministers and high-ranking officials, the Saudi crown prince told SANA: "We came here not to add new or strange traits of the Arabs as they share common history, destiny and one belief. These traits among Arab brothers are deeply rooted in the memory of time and cannot be expressed in terms of a few words. That is what we know about our brothers in Syria. If we hear our ordeals and expectations and come to Syria, there is no wonder about it, because emergency changes often do. This is the way we are with the trip of destiny and common objectives, and that is our vision and orientation."

On Arab rights, the Saudi crown prince added: "Our right is crystal clear and cannot be contradicted by anyone. Rights of nations can not welcome peace unless it is based on justice and comprehensiveness and protection of rights." He went on that all parties, namely the Israelis, should accept and understand such established facts, and must also know that the Arab nation, which extended its peace arms long time ago may be frustrated when the other party continues to scorn legitimate rights.

"Today," the Saudi crown prince added, "We call upon the Israelis not to be excessive in self-confidence that may reach the point of recklessness. We call on rational Israelis to derive lessons from history."

He appealed to the world, especially the US to side with just solutions and push the Middle East peace process forward. "A unilateral extremism breeds a similar one with others. But we are clear-cut to openly announce that we are against any solution that disregards the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinians in... Palestine," the Saudi crown prince said.

The Saudi crown prince was accompanied by an official delegation comprising Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, the consultant to the crown prince's divan, Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, minister of state and Cabinet member prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, head of the crown prince's divan Nasser al-Rajhi, chief of the Saudi royal protocols Muhammad Bin Abdul Rahman al-Sheikh, the consultant at the crown prince divan Abdul Muhsin Bin Abdul Aziz al-Twijari and deputy chief of the crown prince special affairs Ibrahim al-Tasan.

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