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A prominent member of the Saudi royal family is warning the Obama administration that failure to alter US attitudes towards the Arab-Israeli conflict radically would threaten the kingdom’s “special relationship ”with the US and could force Riyadh to abandon its own support for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.In an article in Thursday’s Financial Times, Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and former ambassador to Washington, says that if the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and maintain its strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, it “will have to drastically revise its policies vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine”Writing days after the end of Israel’s three-week Gaza offensive, he says the Bush administration, which supported the onslaught, had left a “sickening legacy in the region”. And while Saudi Arabia has so far resisted Iranian calls to lead a “jihad” against Israel, “ eventually the kingdom will not be able to prevent its citizens from joining the worldwide revolt against Israel”.The prince-writing before President Barack Obama made his comments on the Arab-Israel conflict last night-holds no official position in the Saudi government at the moment but his views reflect the mounting frustrations within the al-Saud royal family and the apparent need to exert immediate pressure on the Obama administration for a more even-handed Middle East policy.Mr Obama has signalled a readiness to work for peace between Arabs and Israelis and called Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders on his first day in office in an effort to help consolidate Gaza’s fragile ceasefire.Saudi Arabia, under intense pressure during the Gaza conflict, has been eager to assert its leadership role in the region and underline that it has not been standing by while Palestinians suffer.Last week King Abdullah warned that the Arab peace initiative that he had sponsored in 2002-offering Israel normal relations with the whole Arab world if it withdrew from all lands occupied in 1967-was still on the table, but would not there remain forever.The statement came after weeks of turmoil in the Arab world as the images of Gaza fuelled widespread outrage, embarrassing Saudi Arabia and other states that have been committed to peace negotiations yet have little to show for their efforts.The pressure intensified when Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president, wrote to King Abdullah asking him to take action to end the Israeli offensive.In his FT article, Prince Turki calls on Mr Obama to address the “disaster” in Gaza and its “causes” and to condemn Israel’s “atrocities” against Palestinians, not only Hamas’s firing of rockets at Israel. He appeals to the US president to “strongly promote” the Arab peace initiative.The prince’s article recalls the letters that King Abdullah, as crown prince, sent to George W. Bush in 2001, warning that the kingdom would review relations with the US unless the administration adopted a forceful push for Middle East peace.The letters rang alarm bells in Washington but were soon overshadowed by the September 11 attacks, which involved a group of Saudis.It was only after Riyadh launched its own campaign against terrorism two years later and started addressing the root causes of radicalism that ties with the US improved again.By Roula Khalaf in London
As in the days of Noah.....
