Former Saudi intelligence chief and ex-envoy to the US says close Saudi-US ties are at risk due to Washington's staunch support for Israel. Prince Turki al-Faisal in a Friday interview with the London-based Financial Times newspaper said that former US President George W. Bush left a 'sickening legacy' in the Middle East.
Using unusually tough words for a Saudi official, Turki referred to the Israeli onslaught as butchery backed by what he called Washington's unforgivable arrogant attitude.
The long-time Saudi intelligence chief and son of the late King Faisal said that the new US administration should dramatically change its foreign policy to gain confidence in the Arab world. "Unless the new US administration takes forceful steps to prevent any further suffering and slaughter of Palestinians, the peace process, the US-Saudi relationship and the stability of the region are at risk."
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Turki said he had strongly promoted the Arab-Israeli peace process in his decades as a public servant, but after Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, "pleas for optimism and co-operation now seem a distant memory."
During Israel's deadly onslaught on Gaza that claimed more than 1300 lives, many in the Muslim world strongly criticized Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan for their silence and accused them of being Israel's stooges. |