Olmert Denies Talking With Saudi King

2006-09-25

Michael Freund, Herb Keinon and JPost staff

The Jerusalem Post

www.jpost.com/servlet/ Satellite?cid=1159125864705 &pagename=JPost%2FJP Article%2FShowFull

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The Jerusalem Post joins with other Israeli media in employing the deceptive shorthand description: "The Saudi peace initiative, which calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war in exchange for normalization and relations with all Arab countries|" When it also provides for the implementation of the right of return of refugees to within Israel.]

A senior Saudi government official has flatly denied reports that a member of the desert kingdom's royal family recently held secret talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"The information is completely incorrect," Hisham al-Niali, deputy director of the Saudi Foreign Ministry's Information Department, told the Jerusalem Post by phone from Riyadh. "There was no meeting, not at all. And we have already issued a statement to the press about this," he said.

Al-Niali was referring to a report in Yediot Aharonot which had quoted anonymous Israeli officials as saying that Olmert secretly met with Abdullah 10 days ago, and others who hinted the talks were with a senior official close to the king.

However, none of the officials would say where the meeting was held or the exact content of the talks.

A previous report, which appeared in Yediot last Friday, said Israel and Saudi Arabia had been holding secret talks since fighting erupted in July between Israel and Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon. Yediot reported that the talks were due to Saudi Arabia's realization that Iran - which backs and funds Hizbullah - was capable of destabilizing the Middle East.

Over the weekend, Saudi officials took pains to deny that any such meetings had taken place.

Osama Nuqli, a spokesman for the Saudi Foreign Ministry, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Saturday that his country did not have any contacts with the Jewish state.

Nuqli asserted that Saudi policy was guided by "transparency", and that "its moves and diplomatic and political efforts are publicized and well-known", adding that there are no "secret" contacts with Israel.

Asked by the Post what he thought lay behind the recent spate of reports on Saudi-Israeli contacts, al-Niali laughed and said, "I don't know. I really do not know. They are not true."

Olmert praised Saudi actions over the last two months, specifically the kingdom's criticism of Hizbullah during the war in Lebanon, but in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday stopped short of confirming reports that he had met King Abdullah or other high level Saudi officials.

Olmert referred to the Saudi conduct over the last two months as an "interesting phenomenon, which has to be noted carefully and sensitively."

However, as to whether or not he met the king, Olmert dismissed the reports as "speculation and imagination."

Cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra refused to confirm or deny the report.

"I know what I read in the newspaper," Ezra told Israel Radio. "I think this is the correct way to respond ... every extra word about these issues is unnecessary."

Israel and Saudi Arabia have no official diplomatic ties.

Four years ago, Saudi Arabia presented a peace initiative that then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said was one of the reasons he decided to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip last summer.

According to Yediot, the secret talks 10 days ago between Olmert and the senior Saudi official focused on Iran's nuclear program and achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel and the United States say Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Teheran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The Saudi peace initiative, which calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war in exchange for normalization and relations with all Arab countries, had been rejected by Sharon outright.

But in an interview with Yediot last week, Olmert responded differently.

"I am very impressed with different processes and statements that are connected to Saudi Arabia, some that have been stated publicly and others as well. I am very impressed with King Abdullah's wisdom and sense of responsibility," Olmert was quoted as saying in Yediot.

When asked if Israel was holding secret contacts with Saudi Arabia, Olmert said: "I do not have to answer every question."

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis