Saudi Prince: Return of refugees a must for 'real peace'
By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent Ha'aretz 12 May 2002

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah said in an interview published Saturday
that Israel must withdraw from all Arab territories captured in the 1967
Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, as the price for real peace with the
Arab world.

Abdullah, speaking to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, added that Israel would
have to be open to discussion on the rights of return for Palestinian
refugees.

The prince, who held talks with Bush on the Middle East crisis last month,
said that Arabs would not accept a partial Israeli pullout and Israel had to
return all Arab land.

"A withdrawal is not enough, there must be a return to the pre-1967
aggression lines and an end to the occupation of Jerusalem so that it
becomes the capital of Palestine," said Prince Abdullah, the architect of a
Middle East peace initiative that won Arab and international backing.

"The return of refugees is also a must," he told the London-based paper.

The de facto ruler of the oil superpower praised Bush for supporting the
long-standing Arab demand for the creation of an independent Palestinian
state.

"I must say that President Bush has played an active role... by insisting on
the necessity of the creation of a Palestinian state at a time the Israeli
forces tried to annul the Palestinian Authority," the paper quoted him as
saying.

Prince Abdullah said it was "too early" for the kingdom to say whether it
would take part in possible peace negotiations with Israel. "Our priority is
to lift the suffering of our brothers in Palestine, and we will do our
utmost to restore Arab rights."