Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal called Thursday for rapid action to end the violence in the Middle East, saying the torn region was on the verge of an abyss.
“Events in the region are heading for an abyss, and they will fall in it if nothing is done to control them in the immediate future,” Prince Saud told reporters after talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov.
The prince described the Saudi peace initiative as “the final stage that the Arab - Israeli relations can achieve if Israel withdraws from the Arab lands which it occupied in 1967 and with the founding of the state of Palestine and the return of the refugees to their homes.”
The Saudi peace initiative drawn up by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to end the Arab-Israeli crisis has won international backing.
“What we see happening in the Jenin refugee camp and in many other places is reaching the point where these actions can be called war crimes,” Prince Saud said.
Ivanov said Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed “efforts must be made to move toward an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces, as well as the lifting of the siege on Arafat’s compound.”
“We are seriously concerned with the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories,” Ivanov said, according to Arab News daily.
“Urgent action must be taken to improve the situation of the Palestinian people.”
Prince Saud also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday.
Putin expressed his deep concern over the latest developments in the Occupied Palestine and the plight of the besieged Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders.
The Saudi Foreign Minister said that oil was "not a tank or a gun," and that his country had no intention of using an embargo to support the Palestinians against Israel.
"Saudi Arabia will continue to produce oil, to do what is necessary to keep demand at a good level, and to support the Intifada (uprising) of the Palestinian nation," he said at a press conference.
"Oil will give us the means to safeguard our defence in the future," al-Faisal said. (Albawaba.com)
