JEDDAH, 30 July 2006 -- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday denounced the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territories and called for a halt to the bloodbath and for the restoration of Palestinian rights.
During his meeting with the Saudi leader, Abbas commended the support of Abdullah and the Kingdom toward establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The Saudi-Palestinian summit talks also reviewed the repercussions of events unfolding in occupied Palestinian territories as well as the suffering of Palestinians as a result of Israeli military operations and economic seige.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Muqrin, director of intelligence, attended the talks at Al-Salaam Palace in Jeddah.
Abbas, on an Arab tour to seek support as Israel wages a massive onslaught on the Gaza Strip, briefed the Saudi king on developments in the Palestinian territories.
Saudi Arabia has pledged $250 million for reconstruction in the Palestinian territories, which have also been reeling under a Western financial boycott of the Hamas-led government elected in January.
Israel has mounted devastating assaults on Gaza and Lebanon following the capture of Israeli soldiers by Palestinian fighter groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
Both Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups have demanded the release of Arab prisoners in Israeli jails in return for the release of the Israeli soldiers.
Abbas said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria yesterday that the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails should not be conditional on freeing an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinians on June 25.
"Even before the capture of the Israeli soldier, there was talk of my meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to discuss the release of Palestinian prisoners," Abbas told reporters after meeting with Mubarak.
"Olmert promised President Mubarak the release of Palestinian prisoners and so the release of the Israeli soldier is not a simultaneous issue. He will be released and the prisoners will be released," he said.
At least 147 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have died since Israel launched the massive offensive to recover the soldier.
On July 12, the Hezbollah group captured two Israeli soldiers, sparking a devastating offensive by Israel, which has destroyed the country's infrastructure and killed hundreds of Lebanese, mainly civilians.
Hezbollah's leader in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera recently that the two captured Israeli soldiers would only be freed in the "context of an exchange" of prisoners.
But Abbas yesterday tried to distance himself from events in Lebanon.
"Our brothers in Lebanon have their circumstances and we have ours, whether it concerns prisoners or the offensive against Lebanon," Abbas said.
He did however say that the Palestinian demands for the release of Arab prisoners included releasing first women and children and those who had served sentences of 15 to 20 years.
"We don't want the Israelis to do what they did (in 2005) and release 400 people who had already finished their sentences," he said. Israel has around 10,000 Palestinian prisoners and an uncertain number of Lebanese in its jails.
By P.K. Abdul Ghafour
© Arab News 2006
