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Saudi foreign minister in surprise visit on eve of Sharon talks

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, May 7, 2002

WASHINGTON Ñ Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal arrived in Washington on Monday in what Arab diplomatic sources termed a surprise visit. The sources said Prince Saud's mission was to ensure that President George Bush pressure visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to agree to a fast-track diplomatic process that would result in a Palestinian state.

But Sharon is also bringing to his meeting today with President Bush captured documents as purported evidence that the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry has paid millions of dollars to families of Palestinian suicide bombers and to the terrorist group Hamas.

"The Saudis wanted to cover this up," said Col. Miriam Eisin, an Israeli intelligence official who provided copies of the documents to reporters at the Israeli Embassy yesterday.

The Saudi government gave $135 million in the past 16 months to help the families of suicide bombers and fund other aspects of the anti-Israel uprising, she said.

The diplomatic sources said the Saudi foreign minister was sent to Washington to monitor the Bush-Sharon meetings, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Saudi Arabia wants Israel to quickly withdraw from all Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Prince Saud met U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and discussed the Bush-Sharon meeting on Tuesday at the White House. After the meeting, Saud said an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian Authority areas is the first step required by Israel.

U.S. officials said Bush is expected to press Sharon to begin talks with the Palestinians for the establishment of an independent state before the resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians. For his part, Sharon said he is willing to discuss such a state if the Palestinians change their policy and leadership.

But Sharon's aides released a report that linked Saudi Arabia with Palestinian suicide-bombings, a move that disturbed administration officials.

"He [Bush] wants to continue to press the case about the importance of moving forward toward political settlement of the disputes," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "Security is vital; security is ongoing, security is an integral part of everything. Political solutions have to be a vital part of the mix."

[In Washington, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the Bush administration to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia. The commission said Saudi cooperation with the United States in the war against terrorism "does not grant them license to continue to abuse the rights of their own people."]

Diplomatic sources said Saudi Arabia is coordinating with Egypt in Riyad's drive to ensure U.S. support for the Palestinians. The sources said Riyad has urged President Hosni Mubarak to press PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to respond to the complaints by Bush that the Palestinians have failed to halt attacks against Israel.

On Tuesday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat reported that Mubarak relayed a letter to Arafat and expressed what was termed his grave concern over the divisions and disputes within the PA. The newspaper said Mubarak demanded that Arafat draft a clear policy for the future and choose between continued war against Israel or the resumption of the peace process.

Another London-based daily, Al Quds Al Arabi, said Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has pressed the Palestinians to end suicide attacks against Israel.

The newspaper said on Tuesday that Abdullah telephoned leaders of the Islamic opposition group Hamas, which has received tens of millions of dollars from Riyad.

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