On Sunday editorials in Saudi newspapers focused on Bush’s announcement regarding the new Middle East road map for peace, the expected attack on Iraq, and the opening of two vital projects in the Kingdom by Crown Prince Abdullah.
Al-Riyadh newspaper said that it is hard to trust the U.S. President’s announcement regarding a new road map for the Middle East peace process, noting that Arab public opinion has witnessed deception and a lack of sincerity in pursuit of a just solution to this issue.
“This latest announcement appears to be just another mass media glitz to lessen the impact of the growing global opposition to war and promote a trading attraction,” the paper commented. It said that the U.S. crisis with the Arabs is due to the misguided perception and belief of Americans that the Arab public is ignorant.
It stressed that the Palestinian issue cannot be resolved via American-Israeli opinion to the neglect of the Palestinians, and it emphasized that Baghdad and Al-Quds (Jerusalem) are both crucial parts of the Arab nation.
Al-Madinah newspaper said that the offer of President Bush to the Palestinians appears to be a bargain with the aim of justifying destruction of Iraq in return for setting up a Palestinian state under Israeli conditions.
It added that the offer is a lame attempt “to blind global public opinion and to satisfy the Arabs under the concealed background of U.S. favours for Israel”.
The paper noted that Washington and London are experiencing a diplomatic crisis at the Security Council due to their insistence on the military option to resolve the Iraqi crisis. “The American and British administrations can find only one way to deal with the clear double-standards of the Iraqi and Palestinian files: to return to the policy of shining promises and repetition,” the paper commented.
In an editorial entitled “Not a War Against Islam”, Arab News said: “The opposition to war by France, Germany, Russia, China, and the millions of people who have taken to the streets across the world - not least in the U.S. and the UK - all reflect a unity of purpose and a desire for peace that surmounts the religious divide. In any case, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq is not, strictly speaking, “Islamic”. Its Baathist ideology is overtly secular, and Muslims in Iraq have been persecuted. Whatever one might say about U.S. motives for going to war against Baghdad, religion is the least of them. This is not a war against Islam. That it is a dangerous lie, which creates bigots, and has a frightening potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy - if enough people believe it and respond accordingly. “However, we fear that, far from creating a peaceful and harmonious Iraq, the result (of the war) will be ongoing chaos and conflict, with dire consequences for the entire region and perhaps the world beyond.”
Saudi Gazette said that President George Bush’s latest road map for the Middle East peace process is a diversionary manoeuvre, reminiscent of a similar plan announced 12 years ago during the Madrid Peace Conference on 30 October 1991 in the wake of war. “The new Bush plan also lays greater burden on the Palestinians who have nothing to offer but their lives. If Palestinians want peace after the conclusion of the war in Iraq, they must end ‘violence’. Only then could the Israeli occupation army be asked to withdraw,” it noted.
Riyadh Daily said that the opening of vital projects like Shuaibah Water Desalination Station and a prawn breeding and processing plant in Al-Laith by Crown Prince Abdullah, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, reflects the Government’s concern to improve the citizens’ living conditions and bring about their progress and welfare.
The Shuaibah water project is expected to increase the supply of water to Jiddah city by 60%. This is a major step in developing the water supply to the Kingdom’s major commercial city,” it added. “The new prawn project holds special significance as it is a private sector enterprise, which aims to export the product. The Kingdom’s endeavour in the desalination sector and farming go hand in hand. Already a world leader in water desalination, the Kingdom is now set for significant progress in the field of prawn cultivation. Even as the first phase of the new prawn project is commissioned, the second is already underway: a major step towards the Kingdom’s goal of achieving self-reliance in food production.”
Source: SPA
