 |
| Volume IX, June 2002, Number 2 |
| |
| EXCERPT: Address to the Arab League |
| |
| Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud |
| |
Prince Abdullah, heir apparent to King Fahd, is deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia and commander of the National Guard. The following is the text of a speech he gave at the fourteenth Arab Summit in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 28, 2002.
My Dear Brethren, the Noble People of the Arab and Islamic Nation: When the Arabs opted for peace as a strategic choice, they did not do so out of crippling desperation or debilitating weakness, and Israel is mistaken if it believes that it can impose an unjust peace by force. We embarked upon the peace process with open eyes and clear minds, and we have not accepted then, nor will we ever accept now, that this process is transformed into a non-binding obligation imposed by one party on the other.
Peace is a free and voluntary choice made by two equal parties, and it cannot survive if it is based on oppression and humiliation. The peace process rests on a clear principle: land for peace. This principle is accepted by the international community as a whole, and is embodied in U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and was adopted by the Madrid Conference in 1991. It was confirmed by the resolutions of the European Community and other regional organizations, and re-emphasized once more this month, by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1397.
|
| |
|
