Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on an official visit to Turkey, held Israel responsible for the collapse of peace negotiations with Palestinians, citing its intransigence and violation of world legitimacy. In a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Dawood Oglu in Ankara today, Prince Saud Al-Faisal also cautioned the would-be repercussions of the resignation of a number of Lebanese cabinet members on the unity of Lebanese politicians and people. On the peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians, he cited the Israeli determination and decision to go ahead with building more settlements, swallowing more Palestinian territories and causing much sufferings for Palestinian people. Such failure on the negotiation table leads us (the Arab countries) to seek an alternative way and a new policies to restore the Palestinian alienated rights and conduce to an independent Palestinian state with the holy Al-Quds as its capital. He called on the world community to shoulder its responsibility to support the Arab political will amid increasing recognition of the Palestinian state project. On the Saudi Syrian joint effort to find a breakthrough to the Lebanese impasse, he said Saudi Arabia and Syria will continue to exert whatever efforts to safeguard a peaceful solution to the Lebanese crisis and lead to the Arab country's stability and understanding among its political factions. On Iraq, he confirmed that his country's policy towards Iraq was and will always remain in support of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, security and territorial unity away from foreign interference. He expressed hope that the new Iraqi government would achieve the above national goals for the benefit of its people. For his part, the Turkish minister underscored the important role being played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the region in general and the Lebanese crisis and the Palestinian issue in particular. It always remains an important thing to consult with the Kingdom to draft a common and agreeable policy to reach solutions to the regional tough and hot crises, he said. Prince Saud Al-Faisal arrived in Ankara yesterday on a visit to Turkey.
