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Crown Prince Says Saudis Unfazed By US Media Coverage
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| "The people of the Kingdom have not been affected by what certain newspapers publish" |
Crown Prince Says Saudis Unfazed By US Media Coverage
RIYADH, Jan. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, said Saturday, January 26, that the people of Saudi Arabia will uphold the Islamic faith "until Allah claims our souls. The Muslim people hold steady and we will stay Muslim until God claims our soul," he said, adding that, "without the Islamic faith, we Arabs, have no dignity, strength or power."
"The people of the Kingdom have not been affected by what certain newspapers publish and you know who is behind this campaign," the crown prince said, reported Saudi newspaper Arab News. The Prince's comments echoed past Saudi comments, which accused the U.S. Jewish lobby of conducting a hostile media campaign against the Arab world, said AFP. Since September 11, 2001, American newspapers have run reports chronicling a lax attitude in Saudi Arabia towards so-called “Islamic extremism” and Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.
Prince Abdullah made the remarks while receiving a number of scholars, intellectuals and journalists from the Kingdom and abroad, who are attending the current Janadriah festival as guests of the National Guard, the News said.
During discussions the crown prince was asked about the United States’ stance on the Middle East issue, the plight of the Palestinians and the virtual imprisonment of President Yasser Arafat by the Israelis.
To that, Prince Abdullah replied: "A leader being imprisoned by another country is a very strange situation. Never has anything like this happened anywhere. I would like to tell my brothers in Palestine that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd and its people will strive hard to fulfill their duty toward their brothers and Islam.
We will strive hard. But only Allah can provide success."
Commenting on the policy of the Kingdom on the Palestine issue, Prince Abdullah said: "I greet my brothers and sons of this valiant and firm nation who have raised the morale and esteem of Arabs and Islam, and I wish them success and hope that we all will one day pray at Al-Quds (Al-Aqsa) Mosque if Allah wills it.”
The crown prince was asked whether the Beirut summit would endorse the views he had expressed in the GCC summit in Muscat. He replied: "I carried out my duty. The rest is on the participants of the summit."
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