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American Morning

Saudi Prince Says No Visit With Israelis Yet

Aired March 15, 2002 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, CNN's Rula Amin spoke with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah in a one-on-one interview with no cameras allowed. She joins us now by telephone, and I know, Rula, that you talked with him about the recent Saudi peace plan. What did he tell you?

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we talked to him out his peace plan and about Iraq. Those are the two issues that are going to dominate his meeting with Dick Cheney tomorrow when he gets here to Saudi Arabia. Regarding his peace initiative, Crown Prince Abdullah said he is going to present it to the Arab summit, and then from there he is going to take it to the Security Council.

To him, in this initiative, he proposes that Israel withdrawals fully from all Arab land occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, he told us. And in return for that, the Arab countries will be willing to normalize their relations with Israel. The Crown Prince said, "this is good solution for those who are interested in resolving the conflict."

He said this is clear message to the Israeli people from the Arab countries that there is a way out, that they would like to have peace in this region. However, the crown prince did dismiss any possibility for a meeting between Saudi officials and Israeli officials at this point. He said at this point, such meetings are not going to take place.

Now, on the issue of Iraq, the crown prince has been very, very clear that his country does not support a strike against Iraq. The crown prince told us that he doesn't believe the U.S. can overthrow Saddam Hussein, and that any such attempt would involve armies, that would lead to a catastrophe, he told us because the land usually sides with its people. It is is going to be a catastrophe for the United States and the region. And so the crowned prince says there's no use from such a strike. He thinks any such strike will only hurt the Iraqi people more, will lead to more animosity and hatred -- and hatred against the United States. This is something he says he's trying to root out from the heart of the people of the region, and that is something that he is going to convey to Dick Cheney tomorrow, that Saudi Arabia does not advise the United States of any such strike. However, the crown prince did say that he expects -- I mean, he thinks that Iraq may accept the return of the U.N. arms inspectors into the country -- Paula.

ZAHN: What did the Saudi crown prince have to say about the status of Osama bin Laden?

AMIN: You know, we asked him about that, and the crown prince says that he believes Osama bin Laden is not a threat anymore. However, he had to different insight. He said that during bin Laden's stay in Afghanistan, a lot of his money came from drug trafficking, and he wanted to make that point very strongly. He said that if you want to fight terrorism, you have to fight drug trafficking, because this is one major source of finance for the terrorists -- Paula.

ZAHN: Did he happen to say whether he believes Osama bin Laden is alive?

AMIN: You know he didn't know, and he was asking us if we knew if he was alive. The crown prince was very relaxed and he was very genuine and relaxed in this interview. No, he said he doesn't know the fate of bin Laden -- Paula.

ZAHN: Well, the timing of this interview couldn't be any better, Rula Amin, as you made it quite clear, this is in advance of Dick Cheney coming to his country. Thank you very much for filling us in on what the crown prince had to say.

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