Saudi crown prince holds talks with Powell in Casablanca
US secretary of State Colin Powell held talks Monday evening in Casablanca with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdallah Ibn Abdelaziz.
Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saoud Al-Faysal, US assistant secretary of state for the Middle East affairs, William Burns, and other senior officials from the State Department attended the meeting.
Powell had earlier been received in the Moroccan southern Atlantic city of Agadir by King Mohammed VI. During the Audience, King Mohammed VI, Chairman of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee, renewed Morocco's total condemnation of the Israeli military invasion in the Palestinian territories and adamantly decried the siege imposed on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his close aides. The king urged the United States to spare no effort in getting an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories to enable President Yasser Arafat, sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, regain his liberty. Expressing satisfaction over President Bush's willingness to actively engage the United States in finding a political solution to the plight of the Palestinian people, King Mohammed VI, recalled Morocco's role as peace broker and voiced its readiness to contribute to reactivating, without any prior conditions, the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis subsequent to the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories and the lifting of the siege against the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership. The sovereign urged Powell to meet President Arafat, a meeting that could determine the outcome of the US Secretary of State's mission, he said.
In remarks he made after the royal audience, Powell described the situation in the Middle east as "very difficult." with the continued fighting that is taking place in the occupied territories." He recalled that President Bush had told (Israel's) Prime Minister Sharon, both in his speech last Thursday and the statement on Saturday, and in a private phone call, that he wants to see this operation brought to an end, and the withdrawals to begin as soon as possible "and the President meant now," Powell said, adding that President Bush was expecting action and efforts on the part of the Israeli authorities to start bringing this operation to some conclusion.
Powell, who is currently touring a number of countries in the Middle East in an attempt to defuse the escalated tension in the region, headed this Tuesday to Cairo, and is scheduled to visit Spain, Jordan and Israel. He is scheduled to meet chairman of the European Union, Russian peer, Igor Ivanov, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and senior European officials, including the high representative for foreign policy, Javier Solana.