Jordan Times
Friday-Saturday, October 5-6, 2001

King Abdullah: Peace is best guarantee for Israeli security

“Terrorists are the enemies of the whole world: Of the US, wounded by an atrocious massacre, and of Islam, whose image they smear and stain,” King Abdullah was quoted as saying in Italy's leading mass-circulation newspaper “Il Corriere della Sera” on Thursday.

“It is not us joining the coalition against them. It is the coalition that joins our will to defeat them.”

In his first interview with a European newspaper since the Sept. 11 attacks, King Abdullah denied that the atrocities in New York and Washington could be the result of an ideological conflict.

“Our information, everyone's information, lead to Osama Ben Laden, to an organisation which portrays itself as [having] an Arab and Islamic background, and this is what makes me feel even worse.”

Explaining to Italian readers how extraneous any act of violence is to Islam, the King said it was both very sad and frustrating that terrorists were “using religion as a pretext to commit their crimes.”

“Everyone understands that this is not a fight between East and West, or between religions. Together, East and West, and all religions will fight against evil,” Corriere quoted the King as saying.

From the tremendous suffering inflicted on the American people, the King continued, some new hopes could arise.

“To defeat the terrorists, we have to address the root causes of problems: The first weapon to combat them is to solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem, and the problem of Jerusalem,” he reportedly said.

Commenting on Tuesday's statements by US President George W. Bush that the US' vision for the Middle East envisaged the establishment of a Palestinian state, the King urged all parties involved to exert extra efforts to achieve Palestinian statehood as soon as possible.

“Peace is the only guarantee for regional stability. Peace with the Palestinians is the best guarantee for Israeli security,” he was quoted as saying.

The King also told the Italian daily that he believed that military operations in response to the Sept. 11 attacks will be very limited.

The most important element in the struggle against terror, he continued, will be political and diplomatic work, as well as gathering intelligence and conducting financial investigations to dry up terrorists' funds.

“This will be the real war, the most complicated one,” he asserted.

“It will not be like the cold war. I do not believe there will be soldiers who attack or are attacked. It will be a moral war. People will have to choose sides. Do you believe in good or evil? I am sure that the majority of people will choose good.”

The King also indicated that one important element in the US-led coalition against terror was that Washington clearly stated that it intended to turn a page in relations with countries suspected of having harboured terrorists in the past.

“I think the US was clear on this. It is not important what happened in the past. On Sept. 11, the world changed. We turn the page. If in the past you supported terrorists, now you have to choose: Either you continue to support them, or you stop.”

The King, who is expected to pass by Rome for political talks there on his way back from a scheduled Oct. 11-12 trip to Germany, sent a message to the Italian public through the Corriere.

“I think Italians have to understand what the Americans have understood: The authors of the attacks did not just mean to cause human and material losses.

“They do not care about the consequences for Muslims in their own countries, in the US, or in Europe.

“They want Christains to attack Muslims or Arabs ... they want to make us fall in the trap of a war between civilisations.

“But we have to be smarter than them. And I am sure that the Italian people will understand.”

The interview did not make any open reference to a statement issued last week by right-wing Italian Prime Minsiter Silvio Berlusconi in which he said, “our civilisation is superior to Islam.”

Berlusconi later retracted the statement and apologised for any offence “to our Arab friends.”

Back to October 5, 2001