RIYADH, Feb 25: Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who was invited on Monday by Israeli President Moshe Katsav to discuss his peace overture in Jerusalem, is firmly opposed to the normalization of ties with the Jewish state before it evacuates occupied Arab land.

Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler since 1995, is “considered an Arab nationalist and one of the staunchest opponents of normalization with Israel,” a Riyadh-based Arab diplomat said.

Abdullah was quoted in the New York Times last week as saying Riyadh favoured Arab states normalizing relations with Israel if it carried out a full withdrawal from territories captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

He said he had written a speech along those lines to deliver to the Arab summit slated for March 27-28 in Beirut, but shelved it due to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s hard line against the Palestinians.

Abdullah’s remarks, a novelty in Riyadh which is firmly opposed to normalization with Israel, “do not necessarily suggest a Saudi overture in the direction of negotiations with the Jewish state”, according to the Arab diplomat.

“Riyadh expects Israel to make the first step (by pulling out of the occupied territories) and the United Nations to provide guarantees” before it will agree to a rapprochement with the Jewish state, said the diplomat.—AFP