By Kay Scrimger
February 3, 2003

His Royal Highness Prince Bandar, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, addressed the 71st U. S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting at the January 22nd Luncheon on a wide range of topics, including his desire to reach out to mayors all across the United States, the seventy-year history of friendship between the U.S. and his nation, effects of September 11th, and the Middle East situation in general. He expressed the view that March and April will be "good months" for the peace process in the Middle East.

Prince Bandar expressed his enjoyment of traveling throughout the U.S. and meeting mayors: "You represent the people I enjoy visiting with," he said. "I look forward to visiting you in your cities, especially those with Saudi students.

Seventy Years of Friendship Between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia

"Saudi Arabia has been a friend of the U.S. since the late '20's, early '30's," he said. "That relationship was based upon people-to-people contacts and mutual interests and over seventy years later, it remains based upon those two strong factors."

September 11th: "I felt anger and pain and outrage toward the people who planned it and pain for the victims and their families"

"Nothing was more painful or shocking in my life than September 11th. It was a tragedy by all measures and also evil." "Americans reacted in a typical American way vis-ˆ-vis their neighbors and community. When the President went to the Islamic Center in Washington, he set the tone from the leadership down for tolerance and for the goodness of America."

"The 19 evil beings" responsible for September 11th, "do not represent Islam." You can be assured that the relationship between our two countries is not weaker but stronger because of their evil action, he stated. "Our relationship was the target of that attack, and we cannot let these evil beings prevail."

"You can be assured that the relationship between our two countries is not weaker but stronger after this attack..." Our relationship was a target of that attack, and we cannot let those who caused the attack prevail, he said.

He noted that "the whole story of 9/11 is not out yet. We and your security services and others around the world were on the hunt before the event took place. Sometime in the future, this will come out, and you will find that Saudi Arabia has upheld its share of the fight honorably."

There is a close relationship between our two nations. "We have always felt that when the U.S. catches pneumonia, we catch cold," he said.

Information that is in the public realm is not always the complete story, he warned. "Don't believe everything you read." There are a lot of media stories based on information from "knowledgeable sources who cannot be identified." He emphasized that, "people who talk, they don't know, and people who know, they don't talk."

Middle East

Prince Bandar described Saddam Hussein as an evil man. The situation he has brought about has caused more pain to his people and to the region than anyone else. "We feel that the United Nations has spoken to this situation, and President Bush has shown great leadership by going to the U.N."

"My government, like yours, prays that the situation will be solved peacefully," he said.

With regard to oil prices, Prince Bandar said his country is prepared to increase oil output if world oil prices do not fall below $28 a barrel soon. He did not indicate how much additional oil his government is ready to export. The price of crude oil has risen above $30 a barrel because of the fear of an impending war with Iraq and because of the cutoff of supplies from Venezuela.

Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have said that they would like to gear production levels to keep world prices in the range of from $22 to $28. This action is viewed as an attempt to reassure markets disturbed by events in Venezuela and Iraq.

"In the Middle East, we have other problems in addition to Iraq. We feel that President Bush's initiative and Crown Prince Abdullah's solution is ideal — to get together, find a solution, and stop the high price civilians from both sides are paying.

The Ambassador expressed hope that progress could be made toward peace in the Middle East following January 28 elections in Israel.

"I, being the ultimate optimist, feel that maybe after the 28th of this month, any government [that] comes now in Israel will understand that there are two constants in the Middle East that cannot be changed:

First of all, "There is never going to be a solution that will satisfy the Palestinians if there is no guarantee for the Israeli people's security."

Second, "There will never be security for the Israeli people if there is no satisfaction for the national aspirations of the Palestinian people."

"Unfortunately, there are enemies of peace on both sides of the ground."

The Ambassador said that he is optimistic that March and April will be "good months" for the Middle East peace process, given proposals put forward by Riyadh and Washington, D.C., as well as the international "roadmap" for peace, supported by the U.N., which envisions establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

"Our American friends will have to be patient and supportive and give us a chance to work it out between us. I am confident that this will happen," Prince Bandar emphasized.