Saudis offer peace proposal
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud, saying the US and Iraq should make sacrifices for peace, announced today that the kingdom has presented both sides with a proposal to end the fighting, but refused to offer details.
“We’ll be knocking on all doors to bring peace,” he said in Riyadh. “It’s too important to leave to just the gods of war to determine where this thing ends.”
Prince Saud urged both sides not to let their pride push them to continue a war “that is going to breed nothing but hate between our two peoples.”
Since the early days of the US-Iraq conflict Saudi Arabia has taken the lead in exploring ways to find a solution. Weeks ago, it discreetly floated the idea Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should go into exile.
It also presented to major Western powers the idea of offering amnesty to all but the tight circle around Saddam in the hopes that senior generals would overthrow him.
The kingdom’s efforts to stop the fighting come even as Saudi Arabia has quietly been aiding the US war effort, a position that carries the risk of an extremist backlash, especially if the war drags and Iraqi casualties mount.
