WORLD: REST OF WORLD
Saudi Arabia breaks silence
Rashmee Roshan Lall
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
LONDON: Saudi Arabia has finally broken its strategic silence in the escalating row between Iran and the West by blaming the latter for introducing nuclear calculations into the West Asia region because it allowed Israel to develop nuclear weapons.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal took to the airwaves in Britain with a bold denunciation of Western complicity in allowing Israel its nuclear defence. "Nobody mentions that Israel has 100 nuclear weapons in stock," the minister said.
Arguing for a diplomatic approach, Al-Faisal said that it was important for the West to recognise Iranian "pride." He said Iran was "an old civilisation it has pride."
Taking a hardline on the existence in West Asia of even a civilian nuclear industry, Al-Faisal rejected even the prospect of Iran being allowed to build a nuclear reactor (for peaceful energy generation) at Bushehr.
He said, "The reactor is on the Gulf and being built with Russian technology. Just think if a Chernobyl accident happened here."
Copyright © 2006Times Internet Limited.