Bitter Resiliance
Saudi Arabia Criticizes U.S. Mideast Policy Shift
Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, said on Friday that Washington should not back Israeli plans to keep parts of the occupied West Bank because this would cripple peace efforts and nullify previous peace agreements.
President Bush on Wednesday endorsed Israel's claim to parts of the West Bank seized in the 1967 Middle East war and backed a Gaza Strip pullout plan in a historic U.S. policy shift that drew condemnation from Arabs.
His apparent volte face also drew sharp criticism from Saudi Arabian newspapers, which normally reflect government thinking.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was surprised by these views...because, if cemented, they will complicate peace opportunities and cripple the peace process on which the hopes and expectations of the international community are staked," said a statement carried by the state Saudi Press Agency.
"Instead of building on previous decisions and agreements, these views threaten to contradict those decisions and annul those agreements at a time when everyone was expecting positive developments in returning to the path of peace in the Middle East," said the Arabic-language statement.
Palestinians are trying to rally opposition to Bush's decision to break with long-held U.S. policy.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, is a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights and anger at Israel and the United States runs deep in the conservative kingdom.
During a Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, a leading cleric prayed to God to "make the mujahideen (holy fighters) in Palestine victorious against the Jewish, Zionist aggression."
In 2002, Abdullah floated a proposal to end Middle East violence by calling on Arab states to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Saudi newspapers slammed Bush's comments and warned that support for Israel's "expansionist policy" would have serious implications for the U.S. troops in Iraq where Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims insurgents are battling the U.S.-led occupation.
"Moderate Iraqis...will now despair," said the English-language Arab News in an editorial. "It will become clear to them that Americans can no longer be part of any solution because they cannot be trusted."
"He wants the votes of the Zionist and fundamentalist Christian right. To get them he is prepared to destroy the last vestiges of America's position as an honest broker," the newspaper added.
- Reuters
Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, said on Friday that Washington should not back Israeli plans to keep parts of the occupied West Bank because this would cripple peace efforts and nullify previous peace agreements.
President Bush on Wednesday endorsed Israel's claim to parts of the West Bank seized in the 1967 Middle East war and backed a Gaza Strip pullout plan in a historic U.S. policy shift that drew condemnation from Arabs.
His apparent volte face also drew sharp criticism from Saudi Arabian newspapers, which normally reflect government thinking.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was surprised by these views...because, if cemented, they will complicate peace opportunities and cripple the peace process on which the hopes and expectations of the international community are staked," said a statement carried by the state Saudi Press Agency.
"Instead of building on previous decisions and agreements, these views threaten to contradict those decisions and annul those agreements at a time when everyone was expecting positive developments in returning to the path of peace in the Middle East," said the Arabic-language statement.
Palestinians are trying to rally opposition to Bush's decision to break with long-held U.S. policy.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, is a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights and anger at Israel and the United States runs deep in the conservative kingdom.
During a Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, a leading cleric prayed to God to "make the mujahideen (holy fighters) in Palestine victorious against the Jewish, Zionist aggression."
In 2002, Abdullah floated a proposal to end Middle East violence by calling on Arab states to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Saudi newspapers slammed Bush's comments and warned that support for Israel's "expansionist policy" would have serious implications for the U.S. troops in Iraq where Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims insurgents are battling the U.S.-led occupation.
"Moderate Iraqis...will now despair," said the English-language Arab News in an editorial. "It will become clear to them that Americans can no longer be part of any solution because they cannot be trusted."
"He wants the votes of the Zionist and fundamentalist Christian right. To get them he is prepared to destroy the last vestiges of America's position as an honest broker," the newspaper added.
- Reuters
publicado por MP às 13:45
