Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06RIYADH7837
2006-10-04 16:29:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Riyadh
Cable title:  

SAUDI ARABIA OFFERS POSITION PAPER ON THE PEACE

Tags:  PREL IS SA 
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VZCZCXYZ0018
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRH #7837 2771629
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041629Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2183
C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 007837 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/FO FOR A/S DWELCH, PDAS JJEFFREY, AND DAS GGRAY
NEA/ARP FOR BSHUKAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PREL IS SA
SUBJECT: SAUDI ARABIA OFFERS POSITION PAPER ON THE PEACE
PROCESS


Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission David Rundell
for reasons E.O 12958 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 007837

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/FO FOR A/S DWELCH, PDAS JJEFFREY, AND DAS GGRAY
NEA/ARP FOR BSHUKAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PREL IS SA
SUBJECT: SAUDI ARABIA OFFERS POSITION PAPER ON THE PEACE
PROCESS


Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission David Rundell
for reasons E.O 12958 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) During Secretary Rice's October 2 visit to Jeddah,
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal provided the following
position paper on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to
NEA Assistant Secretary Welch.


2. (C) Begin Text: Position Paper On the Peace Process
October 2006

The dangerous implications of not moving decisively to reach
a peaceful, comprehensive and just solution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict can hardly be overestimated.
These implications will not be confined to the states of the
region. The accumulation of crises and tensions in the
region can only encourage an environment in which extremism
and terrorism will thrive, with all the dangerous and
undesired consequences which this holds. On the other hand,
reviving the peace process by rapidly addressing final status
issues is the only path to change profoundly the prevalent
feelings of despair and frustration, and to replace them with
a sense of hope and a positive outlook on a better future for
all of us.

Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be placed
into its appropriate context by reconciling the rights of the
Palestinian and the Israeli people and establishing two
neighboring states enjoying security as a natural outcome of
peace. It is peace that assures security, and not the other
way around. The basis for a solution are clear to all of us,
and it was expressed by the president of the United States is
his two-state vision, which is in harmony with previous UN
resolutions and with the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted
unanimously by 22 Arab states. What is missing and urgently
needed today is to link this vision with a clear agenda bound
to a specific time frame.

Regrettably, the problem was portrayed as inextricably
complicated and not amenable to customary solutions. Using
security considerations as a pretext, exceptional provisions
allowed one of the parties involved in the conflict to
specify unilaterally the basis and conditions for
negotiations, to choose his negotiating partner, to violate
previously concluded agreements, and to impose unilateral
measures. Our purpose here is not to enter into futile
debates, but it is important to recognize that the peace
process has suffered greatly from these exceptions that
create double standards and imbalanced obligations.

Reviving the peace process requires serious international
cooperation. Recent events have again proven that military
solutions can achieve nothing but the undermining of the
interests and security of all parties; it is therefore
essential that we learn the lessons of our previous failures
in the pursuit of peace. These failures resulted from an
exaggerated emphasis on procedural and provisional issues.
The establishment of interim security arrangements proved
complicated and exhausting, while the procedures for building
mutual trust practically enabled enemies of peace to
undermine the peace process in its entirety. What is
required from us today is a fundamental change in our
approach towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace in
the area. It is absolutely essential that we go to the root
of the conflict and the heart of the problem, by establishing
an effective mechanism to ensure immediate peaceful
negotiations that will address all aspects of the final
status, including Jerusalem, borders, refugees and mutual
security arrangements. The required breakthrough can only be
achieved by a comprehensive agreement.

In this regard we need to re-affirm the reference principles
of the peace process based on the resolutions of the
international legitimacy, the principle of land for peace,
the Arab Peace Initiative and the vision of a two states
solution, create an effective mechanism for direct
negotiations based on these principles, set a time table for
reaching a final solution, and establish effective
supervision and monitoring. In addition, the humanitarian
suffering of the Palestinians has reached dangerously
unacceptable levels, which necessitates establishing an
urgent assistance program to the Palestinian Authority. The
policies of boycott and economic blockade are seen by the
Palestinians as a form of collective punishment which defeats
our joint purpose and only encourages more extremism. End
Text.

OBERWETTER