Thank you Mr. Fared Zachariah for your kind introduction

Distinguished Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please allow me to convey my heartfelt condolences to the people of the United States for the suffering, death and destruction brought about by hurricane Katrina.

Acts of nature of this magnitude tend to bring people closer together. The world certainly has stood with the United States during these trying times.

I am truly privileged to address this forum for the third time. Let me point out that thirty (30) years had elapsed between my first and second appearances, and now after only eighteen (18) months, I find myself addressing you again.

I am not sure if this is a sign of the troubled times we live in, or is it the misfortune of those in the audience who have to suffer stoically and listen to me again.

Let me begin on a sad note and pay a deserved tribute. Last month the people of Saudi Arabia, with grief, devotion and dignity, bid farewell and laid to rest King Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz, the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques.

A great and kind king, who for the last two decades was at the helm of the Saudi Arabian leadership.

He dedicated himself to bringing the country to the highest levels of achievement and played a prominent role in Islamic, Arab, and world affairs.

The reigns of power have passed now to the able and experienced King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, our new Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz.

In a continuous un-interrupted line of succession, King Abdullah is the sixth king in the history of modern Saudi Arabia. With the prosperity, welfare, and security of the people of Saudi Arabia as principal objectives, continuity, stability and progress are the defining characteristics of this transition of power.

We are striving for reform and modernization and we shall succeed within the time tested ethical frame work of our culture and tradition.

The people of Saudi Arabia gathered in Riyadh in significantly large numbers to pledge their confidence and loyalty to the present King in accordance with the Islamic principle of “Bay’a”.

This principle of “Bay’a” is much more than a pledge of allegiance, and may be more accurately characterized as a social contract between the ruler and the people.

It is an offer in the form of an oath of loyalty by the people and an acceptance of obligation by the ruler, by which the ruler pledges himself to establish a cohesive society based on justice and equity for all under Shariah law. The validity of this covenant hinges on observing and honoring its essential premises.

This process is exercised both as an endowed right for the people as well as their religious duty and obligation.
It provides for direct participation by the citizens by giving them the power to give or withhold approval and support for the ruler and his government.

The pundits who have been predicting the Kingdom’s instability or even its collapse, have never really tried to understand how our indigenous system of government works.

We may not be a democracy in the Western sense, but our government functions by being sensitively attuned to the wishes of its citizens and by constantly heeding the voice of the people.

We are nevertheless steadily modernizing our political institutions; our Consultative Council has been expanded both in membership and authority to be a more representative body in expressing the popular will.

In addition to the traditional participatory practice of enabling any person in Saudi Arabia to take his or her grievance directly to any official including the King, we are beginning to broaden citizens' participation through elections.

This is our system and it works for us.

The last time I addressed the members of this council, my subject was: The United States of America and Saudi Arabia: A relationship threatened by misconceptions.
I had explained then that there had been an unjustified intense onslaught on Saudi Arabia which at times was purposefully malicious and used Saudi Arabia as an Orwellian scapegoat for all the pain, anger and frustration that resulted from the horrific tragedy of September 11th, 2001.

I said at the time that sooner or later both of our countries will have to abandon recriminations and concentrate on what can be done to restore our healthy relationship and deal with the common threat.

I am pleased to report today that both Saudi Arabia and the United States have taken effective and meaningful measures to do just that.

President Bush and then Crown Prince Abdullah had an opportunity to enhance and deepen that relationship in their fruitful and productive summit at Crawford last April.

I am personally in constant contact with the Honorable Secretary of State Dr. Rice to pursue our discussions to establish a strategic dialogue between us.

This strategic dialogue, in the form of a joint committee, will generate more comprehensive discussions about regional security issues, economic matters, strategies to combat terrorism and the myriad of bilateral topics, such as business and student exchange.

It is opportune that this coincides with the signing of the bilateral agreement for market access concerning Saudi accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

There are still some die-hard so called experts, journalists and political figures who are trying to do damage to my country and to Islam in the eyes of the American people. They appear, as if on cue, whenever the traditional relations between our countries are emphasized and fortified.

A case in point is a recent article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times with the inflammatory title: Mortgaged to the House of Saud.

It is refreshing that such attempts are not being accepted at their face value anymore and that they are being critically challenged by more informed readers and other responsible journalists and opinion makers in the United States.

I recently came across an article where the prominent journalist Laura Dawn Lewis had the following to say about the excesses of one of her colleagues’ writings, and I quote:

“Occasionally a journalist shows his ignorance and bias to such an extent, he or she must be challenged…Basic propaganda techniques like using inflammatory language…Characterization, euphemisms, omissions, discredited reports and inferences further spin his message.

[the writer] proves his concept and knowledge of the Middle East, its people and its customs comes not from knowledge but deep imbedded prejudice coupled with a complete lack of reality or historical fact…..America needs truth, not propaganda.”

I truly believe that Saudi Arabia and the United States must join forces and cooperate to overcome a whole range of tribulations facing our world today.

I predicate this on the fact that each of our respective countries enjoys a unique position of influence that is complimentary to that of the other, in spite of their admittedly disproportionate capabilities.

The United States is the only superpower in the world with all the ramifications that this entails. In addition, there is a moral dimension to complement this power. As described by the Harvard jurist Abe Chayes, the guiding ideals of the United States are: “respect for the rule of law; commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes; tolerance of a broad range of political and philosophical opinion; sympathy for the victims of oppression and injustice; and vocation for truth in public discourse.”

It is these ideals that historically gained for the United States the admiration, trust and respect of the international community. In retaining these values, its position of leadership will be assured, not only by military might but also by the moral standard of being right.

Saudi Arabia also has a unique position in the world and in its region. It is the cradle of Islam. It is the country where the Two Holy Mosques are located and where millions come from all over the world for spiritual rejuvenation and fulfillment of their religious duty. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia has been thrust into assuming a heavy burden of responsibility of influence and moral leadership.

Our cooperation is also necessary since we are both confronted by voices of hatred and violence that must be stopped and prevented from spreading their vile fanaticism.
Our nations and people do not face a dividing clash of civilizations. Instead, they are called upon to join forces for the very survival of civilization.

We share a common cause to act together against the forces of hatred, violence, and perverted beliefs that offer nothing but the spread of chaos and anarchy.

Terrorism is a malignant cancer. No country is immune from its ugly peril. The Arab World has been its main victim—nearly a quarter of a million deaths over the past 25 years, including the 11,000-plus lives lost in Iraq.

In the last two years, Saudi Arabia alone has witnessed more than 24 terrorist attacks, causing the death and injuries of numerous innocent citizens and foreign nationals. 129 terrorists were killed and 17 of them wounded and captured.

Material losses in property and damage to facilities have exceeded 1 billion dollars. Our security forces have been able to foil over 55 other terrorist operations in preemptive strikes that have thwarted the occurrence of any further loss in life or property.

Recently, the concept of the “global war on terror” has been modified to a “global struggle against violent extremism;” It is a reflection of the fact that it is not only a military confrontation, but also an ideological campaign for the hearts and minds of those susceptible to the recruitment to terrorism. This is fully in tune with the conclusions of The Counter-Terrorism International Conference convened by Saudi Arabia and held in Riyadh last February.

The conference was the first of its kind in which representatives from 60 countries and international organizations attended. It was a non-political highly specialized conference of professionals coming together to find real solutions to the common threat of terrorism.
One of the key recommendations of the Conference is that an international center be established under the auspices of the United Nations to develop mechanisms for the exchange of information, technology, training methods and expertise between states. Depending on the circumstances, the exchange of information can be achieved either on a multilateral or bilateral basis.

A basic recommendation of the Conference concluded that dealing with the causes of terrorism is as important as dealing with the terrorists themselves. Serious attempts should be made to solve regional and international conflicts peacefully, so that terrorists are denied the opportunity of exploiting the suffering of peoples under unjust conditions for spreading their misguided ideology and finding a fertile ground for recruitment.

We have an old and wise Arabic saying: in translation it is rendered as follows: “your true friend is he who tells you the truth and not he who agrees with you all the time.”
It is in this spirit that I must discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prospect for peace. There has always been sensitivity and reluctance to discuss the full dimensions of this issue in this country.

Instead of confronting this conflict head on, several ancillary and diversional issues are raised, such as irreconcilable value systems and clashes between civilizations, as cause of the differences that separate the Islamic and Arabic world and the United States.

The truth of the matter is that this conflict is the main overriding issue that separates us.
It is the oldest and most persisting conflict in our region; it requires our immediate and concentrated attention.

The British Prime Minister Mr. Blair described the Palestinian problem several months ago as: ’’the single most pressing political challenge... this is the issue that causes as much misunderstanding, division, concern, worry as virtually any other in the whole of international community…much of the poison that we want to take out of the international relations has swirled around as a result of the failure to make progress on this issue.’’

Avoiding the resolution of this conflict on its merits caused a great human tragedy and extraordinary suffering that befell both the Palestinian and Israeli people.

The young generations of both Palestinians and Israelis have suffered most.

They have inherited a major crisis that started long before they came into this world. If they know any thing about the origins of the conflict it would be, most probably, a vague and obscure picture filled with propaganda that distorts reality.

To put the issue into perspective, let me read you the following quote:

"Why should the Arab make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them?...There had been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Auschwitz but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"

This quote ladies and gentlemen is attributed to the late Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion by Nahum Goldmann in his book the Jewish Paradox.
The sad reality is that both Palestinians and Israelis are victimized by the conflict. The Israelis as we have seen so movingly in recent weeks on the television screen during the withdrawal from Gaza are victims of successive manipulative governments that used them as bargaining chips by encouraging them to build illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

Viewing those images, the Palestinians saw in them their own victimization by wave after wave of occupation, demolition, transfer and humiliating cruelty.

We abhor the violence in Israel and the occupied territories and grieve for the loss of innocent life on both sides.

In a 5 years period between 2000 and 2005, B'ETSLEM, the Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories, reported that around 3500 Palestinians and 800 Israelis were killed.
In contrast, in 1999 there were only 17 casualties for both sides. That was the year when Palestinians and Israelis were still optimistic and had faith in negotiations and the prospect of peace. From then on it was a pessimistic decent to the depth of frustrated purpose.

The time has come for all of us to stop looking at the conflict as a sort of gamesmanship or a grand political Machiavellian ploy in which politicians try to achieve ends no matter what the means are.
The voice of the people must be heard; the fledgling efforts of the Israeli- Palestinian civil society Geneva accord are an example that can be emulated and reinforced.

To paraphrase Clemenceau; peace is too important to leave to politicians. That is why King Abdullah in presenting his peace proposal to the Arab Summit Conference in Beirut, addressed himself directly to the Israeli people.
The Arabs have put their cards on the table. Unanimously they accepted the peace initiative proposed by King Abdullah which was based on the premise of total peace for total withdrawal.

The historic implications for this plan have been internationally recognized, the terms of which conform to the principles of international legitimacy and offer Israel immediate normalized relations with the entire Arab world.

The plan is certainly a daring one, and we hope that the over due response of the Israeli government and people will be just as daring.

The road map has been in limbo for some time. We regard the withdrawal from Gaza as a glimmer of hope. At last there is a positive and welcome move in the right direction.

However, the withdrawal will be meaningless if it is not followed by a comprehensive plan for a withdrawal from the other occupied territories.

We hope that Prime Minster Ariel Sharon will follow this initial step by engaging seriously in negotiation within the frame work of the road map and King Abdullah's initiative.

Yet, unfortunately, his recent remarks at the United Nations emphasized that Jerusalem be fully under Israeli control and that the building of the “separation wall”, which has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, is to be continued and extended.

Such remarks are not the right signals to be given at such a crucial moment of confidence-building and compromise.

What is needed from Prime Minister Sharon is positive indications of his willingness to dismantle the settlements in the occupied territories, withdrawal from Arab occupied lands, and the establishment of the Palestinian State to live in peace and harmony with all its neighbors.

We all know exactly what is needed to be done in this regard. Israeli author Amos Oz writes: "Every Israeli in the street knows what the solution is, just as every Palestinian knows it… peace between the two states, established by the partition of the land roughly in accordance with demographic reality based on Israel's pre 1967 war."

A new approach is necessary to correct and rectify the negotiation process itself. There must be clear and definite steps in accordance with a well defined time table that is monitored and verified on the ground by neutral observers. Any deviation from the original course must be subjected to appropriate sanctions.
The United States and the international community must make the immediate resolution of this conflict an imperative priority. Once this tragic conflict is resolved, it is not at all far fetched to conclude that the other conflicts in the region would probably dissipate and fade and the forces behind violent extremism and terrorism would vanish into oblivion.

All it takes is the will of honest people to realize the futility of the conflict and appreciate the benefits of peace.

All it needs is a firm partnership between all of us -- the US, Saudi Arabia, and the international community -- that looks beyond the petty differences that divides us to the greater forces that unite us.

Thank you again for this opportunity and may peace be upon you.