Pakistan

Saudi prince al Waleed bin Talal denies making pro-Israel statements

Al Waleed bin Talal says news publication AWDNews has repeatedly targeted him

Web Desk October 29, 2015

Saudi prince al Waleed bin Talal PHOTO: AFP

Saudi Prince al Waleed bin Talal, one of the richest businessmen in the world, has denied making statements in support of Israel, while slamming the news publication AWDNews for repeatedly targeting him.

A statement given to CCN Arabic by the prince's private office said the article by AWDNews was "completely bogus and untrue," adding that Prince Alwaleed had not spoken to the Kuwaiti media outlet mentioned in the article or made any of the statements attributed to him.

Prince Alwaleed's office pointed out that the site in question had "repeatedly spread false and fabricated material about Prince Alwaleed without confirming the authenticity with his office."

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Earlier, AWD News reported that the Saudi prince had said that he would side with Israel in case of a Palestinian uprising and that he would attempt to break any Arab initiatives set to condemn the Jewish nation.

“I will side with the Jewish nation and its democratic aspirations in case of outbreak of a Palestinian Intifada (uprising),” bin Talal was quoted as saying by Kuwaiti Al Qabas daily.

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“I shall exert all my influence to break any ominous Arab initiatives set to condemn Tel Aviv, because I deem the Arab-Israeli entente and future friendship necessary to impede the Iranian dangerous encroachment,” he added.

According to the AWDNews, the prince and entrepreneur urged the Saudi Kingdom to devise a new strategy to combat Iran's increasing influence in Gulf States by forging a defense pact with Tel Aviv to deter any possible Iranian moves in the light of unfolding developments in Syria and Moscow's military intervention. The Saudi prince is on a regional tour, visiting the other Gulf Arab littoral states--Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman--to muster support for Saudi-backed rebels in Syria, reported the daily.

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“The whole Middle East dispute is tantamount to matter of life and death for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from my vantage point, and I know that Iranians seek to unseat the Saudi regime by playing the Palestinian card, hence to foil their plots Saudi Arabia and Israel must bolster their relations and form a united front to stymie Tehran's ambitious agenda,” Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) reported him as saying on Tuesday.

COMMENTS (70)

Ashton Sheik | 9 years ago | Reply @MAS: If it were true they were going to run out of oil soon, why would they keep pumping oil at deflated prices. wouldn't it behoove them to cut supply and drive up price? Its more complicated than that, but they are not running out of oil anytime soon..

S. Israr Ali | 9 years ago | Reply a@Furrukh Rao: Highly exaggerating. Saudis are cowards. Three wars they fought jointly with state of Israel and the girls of Israel beat them hp in battle field. They instigated Iraq tofight their war with Iran for 11 long years. Then turned up against their own savior Iraq. Brutal butchers killing indiscriminately in surrounding smaller countries like Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. In theid own country rule of dictatorial one family rule denying governance by public. It is only exploitation of oil , wealth flows in otherwise averse to hard labof and not industrious. Turks are great nation and like other colonial powers of Britain, France, Dutch, Portugal and Spain they had to recede back with the timeto their landd as they did from deep Europe in Hungary, Russia, Central Asian State, Balkan States, whole Arab Peninsula and not Saudi Arabia alone, Nofth Africa dtc. Hence correct yourself.

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Furrukh Rao | 9 years ago | Reply @Abbassin: He denied already that's what I want to explain you people

Saif | 9 years ago | Reply @Furrukh Rao: Cuz everywhere shias are dominating

syed & syed | 9 years ago | Reply @Chulbul Pandey:You are worried or jealous to see the photo. She is with Talal day and night not for Talal but after his fortune

Zafar | 9 years ago | Reply As the whole Muslim world sit quite and enimies of Islam killing one by one each countries Arabs are doomed they are too busy in lavish lifes.this world is ruled by $$ all for sale

Faisal Ashraf | 9 years ago | Reply Know your history. The enmity between the Arabs and Iranians is older than between the Jews and Arabs. The Iranians and Arabs have been hating each other for thousands of years. Even before Islam.

Khizr | 9 years ago | Reply @سہیل یوسف: Must you dwell on the past constantly ?

Karachi Mullah | 9 years ago | Reply @Ankit Sharma: This is not decision of Saudi Arabia. Waleed bin Talal is being used by Kingdom to make west fool.

ZAK | 9 years ago | Reply It is opposition propaganda on media

raw is war | 9 years ago | Reply @someone: That is Bollywood actress Kajol.

raw is war | 9 years ago | Reply @سہیل یوسف: No Palestinian kids are dying from starvation. They have better Per capita than Pakistan, courtesy donations from USA and EU.

Skywalker | 9 years ago | Reply Old approach of headbutting has not helped since 1948, nothing wrong if he has as better approach of bringing in peace.

S. Israr Ali | 9 years ago | Reply In the changed scenario, Palestinians should take lead by joining hands with Israel ahead of Saudi Arabia. In this modern age there is no place for totalarian and dictatorial oppressive and corrupt regimes run by only one family like Kingdom in Saudi Arabia. Israel has democratic set up and must work to unseat regimes averse to governance by people in whole region.

Truth | 9 years ago | Reply ITS VERY CLEAR that Israel does not seek to massacre any Muslim or Arab except defend itself and it's people at which the guilty have been killed many times at the expense of the innocent as well. YET IT IS VERY CLEAR that unlike other coountries, Israel always tries to minimise innocent casualties. This is evident within Israel itself. ITS ALSO VERY CLEAR to the world that although Palestinians may not entirely have rights as Jews in Israel, they still have more freedom as compared to the Billions of Palestinians in other Muslim dorminant countries. ITS RIDICULOUS FOR MUSLIMS to mention the word peace when almost ALL if not most ISLAM dominant countries are ALWAYS at war amongst each other or with the rest of the world. In other countries today around the world, we can witness how ILLMINDED Muslim groups are stirring trouble and harvoc where they have made their new home. MANY UPON MANY PALESTINIAN MUSLIMS are innocent, many of which have passed on and more of which will NEEDLESSLY DIE because of EVIL LEADERS LIKE ABBAS who grew up in blood, anger and hatred and have NOTHING SACRIFICIALLY GOOD to offer to these generations of Palestinians except be blinded by hate and greed and die.

Nero | 9 years ago | Reply @Milind: On the contrary, Saudis are getting deeper into "blind religiosity". For them, as far as these statements suggest, Shia Iran is the mortal enemy (Saudis being Sunni).

Xnain | 9 years ago | Reply Hammas, post Shaikh Yasin, has become a Sunni Hezbullah i.e. a proxy of Iran in Israel. Iran, to date, hasn't given Hammas anything other than arms and ammunitions. Hammas needs these to keep PLO out of Ghaza and in return do Iranian bidding by keeping Israel Occupied. Arabs have been distencing them from Palestine eversince. This statememt is nothing more than the logical end of the phenomenon.

Babbarsher Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Sounds like he is coaxing us to pursue prudent and independent ME policy from our national interest point of view. But do we have guts to think independently other than following our medieval Wahhabi Arab masters commands?

Muhammad | 9 years ago | Reply Now Pakistanis will call him a mossad agent lol

Waseem | 9 years ago | Reply USA, UK and Saudia are the main culprits who destroyed middle east. Now time is coming very soon to pay the price.

Chulbul Pandey | 9 years ago | Reply @Prada: What is bollywood actress Kajol doing with the Saudi prince in the photo?? . To convert that Saudi prince to Hinduism. Pretty soon, he will be found singing - "Main to aarti utaru re, Santoshi mata ki". Take that ;)

Muhibullah | 9 years ago | Reply This alleged statement was concocted by the pro Bashar alAssad disinfo site Awd News. Al Waleed bin Talal refuted it hours ago. Sorry haters, your sectarian agenda has been laid bare.

sidra | 9 years ago | Reply Is he reflected Saudi Govt. Policy?? I personally think Not!

Someone | 9 years ago | Reply Siding with Israel wouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the Saudi economy, even if it runs out of oil, and I fail to see what alliance between the two would achieve meaningfully.

Rex Minor | 9 years ago | Reply @Karachi Mullah: He might become another Mustafa Kamal if he come to Power.. But Mustafa Kemal has been dead for very long period now! The house of Saud is needed to protect the holy cities and allow the believers to visit and pray in 21st century comfort. Rex minor

Fortitude | 9 years ago | Reply Fact of the matter is Israel's the only sane and civilized country in the Middle East. All reasonable countries should side with Israel against the Arab barbarians.

Abbassin | 9 years ago | Reply @Furrukh Rao: This article originally appeared in AWD news, and is being re-printed here by Express Tribune an affiliate of International New York Times. How and where is this story being twisted by Pakistani press? I cannot see your take on this, may be you can elaborate? The irony is that Saudi Arabia, a family run state with draconian laws, is siding with Israel a modern democratic state-albeit democracy for only the Jewish people. I am sure you are aware of the dictum "politics makes strange bed fellows"

Kifah | 9 years ago | Reply @Sameer: Actually the Gulf countries have the same policies as the EU. EU doesn't consist of people of the same religion just people with the same political ideology and of similar race. Gulf arabs are only the same as other gulf arabs hence why they allow their fellow gulf arabs to travel across the countries and live in any gulf nation they want.

S.R.H. Hashmi | 9 years ago | Reply A war can be between two equals or near-equals. However, in case of Israel and Palestinians, it is nothing but a massacre and when the wretched Saudi prince al Waleed bin Talal says that in case of a Palestinian uprising, he would side with Israel, what he actually means is that he would be pleased to give Israel a helping hand in the massacre of Palestinians. One could object to Palestinians’ uprising if they did not try peaceful means to get their problem solved. However, with various peace negotiations for a two state solution, which the entire world accepts as the only solution to problem, having failed because of Israel’s greed for land and refusal to give Palestinians even a small, contiguous piece of land to form their state on out of the land that wholly belonged to them, what other option do Palestinians have except to stand up and protest, which at times turn ugly because of Israeli trigger-happy soldiers heavy-handed approach to suppress these. And going a step further, Waleed said he would attempt to break up any Arab initiative set to condemn the Jewish nation (for the continued massacre of Palestinians. And here Waleed is wrong again. People condemn atrocities by Israeli brutes and not Jewish nation only about a third of which lives in Israel. And these extreme atrocities are condemned even by decent people among Israelis and other Jews. In a conflict between oppressed people peoples a Muslim, or in fact any decent person, would be expected to, and would side with the oppressed and stand up to the oppressor. However, here is Paleed bin Talal, vowing to stand by the oppressor against the oppressed. I hope this line of thinking is that of a Saudi prince gone astray and does not represent the policy of the Saudi Royal family, which better clarify its position through an official statement since the matter is indeed a vary serious one. Karachi

Alien1 | 9 years ago | Reply If the mai-baap of pakistan sides with israel then pakistan will have to listen to its master.

Amjad Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Prince Walid is a complex character. For long time he tried to bribe the Forbes people to enter his name in the list of wealthiest billonaires. which shows his mindset. He is actually very insignficant and his qoutes should not be taken seriously.

Feroz | 9 years ago | Reply Now seems like the Muslim Ummah is showing its true colors and getting ready to shed Muslim blood for personal agendas.

Muhammad Tariq | 9 years ago | Reply Saudi Arabia is doing so to please USA while America stands with Iran at the cost of KSA & Israel on nuclear issue. What is Saudi Arabia....? Kingship is a house of cards. Their Armed Forces stand on loyal tribes affinity & not on basis military professionalism. If Saudi Arabia is attacked by any strong enemy like Iran or Turkey, it will fall with out any big battle. Note why they try to broker Pakistan or Bangladesh or might as well would have desired India to send troops in Syria & Yemen.....???? Their time is over. Kingdom and Monarchies will fizzle out while democracies might replace them. Other Gulf States like Kuwait UAE Qatar etc will soon disappear from the map in case KSA cooperates with Israel against any Muslim country. Arabs will teach them a lesson. These Saudi Prince are only rich in bank balance and bankrupted in all mental faculty....KSA supporting Israel implies serious response from Muslim youth world over.

Madhav Das | 9 years ago | Reply The division within Islam is really deep!

Ch. Allah Daad | 9 years ago | Reply Prince Talal is one of the richest person the world. He and majority of other rich Arabs have invested billions of dollars in Jewish controlled multi national companies. Therefore it would be senseless to side with the enemies of Jews. Secondly they have to protect themselves. The situation in middle east has become life and death matter. It would be very stupid of them not to seek help from those who are enemies of their enemies.

Khan J | 9 years ago | Reply Business is business!

Ch. Allah Daad | 9 years ago | Reply Prince Talal is one of the richest person of the world. He and many rich Arabs have invested billions of dollars in Jewish controlled Multi Nationals. Therefore it would senseless to side with the enemies of Jews or in other words fight against own investments. Secondly situation in Middle East has become matter of great concern for everyone. It would be stupid of Arabs not to seek help from enemies of their enemies.

ivehadit | 9 years ago | Reply all about self preservation!

Ankit Sharma | 9 years ago | Reply Saudi Arabia made the wise decision, they are aware that till now only oil is the big source of their bread n butter , but within few years their oil based economy will start falling as many international reports warned, so they wanna diversify their economy and opening up for others, I think its a practical n sensible approach by Saudi to keep religious issue aside and put self interest first

ABS | 9 years ago | Reply This is interesting. If true, surely it is his own personal view as the prince doesn't have any official government portfolio or is a member of KSA Shura/Majlis. If I am not mistaken. Hence, irrelevant and not representative of KSA foreign policy view of Israel !!

Karachi Mullah | 9 years ago | Reply No Surprise when there is Waleed bin Talal. He might become another Mustafa Kamal if he come to Power..

Rational | 9 years ago | Reply This proves the royal family in Saudia considers Iran a much bigger threat to its interests compared to Israel. This also means that the interests of Saudi regime can be very different from the interests of Palestinians.

Nock | 9 years ago | Reply Finally some honest news for a change, I predicted this. Obama is a trojAn horse out into power by Iran. Saudi jordan gulf states Egypt and israel will be the new front to overt iran obama and Russia with Syria hesbolah the Muslim brotherhood hamas etc. the so called made up "Palestinians" r just taking marching orders from iran who wants to take over all the oil and then get their nukes.

Nachman | 9 years ago | Reply Finally some honest news for a change, I predicted this. Obama is a trojAn horse out into power by Iran. Saudi jordan gulf states Egypt and israel will be the new front to overt iran obama and Russia with Syria hesbolah the Muslim brotherhood hamas etc. the so called made up "Palestinians" r just taking marching orders from iran who wants to take over all the oil and then get their nukes.

Travis | 9 years ago | Reply Islamic nations will fall apart through internecine wars. There is no unity or common ground between any two powers. It is going to be messy if oil prices stay below $60 for any length of time. Unrest will be widespread and fissures will widen.

Rex Minor | 9 years ago | Reply In a startling statement, Saudi prince al Waleed bin Talal has said that he would side with Israel in case of a Palestinian uprising and that he would attempt to break any Arab initiatives set to condemn the Jewish nation.. Very noble of you to think to protect your investments; but the good news is that you are forbiddent by the current monarch to stop commenting politicaly, besides you have given up control over your wealth volntarily. Rex Minor

ajeet | 9 years ago | Reply Whether the Arabs support Israel or not, Israel will surely win any war. It just shows that one lion is equal to one hundred thousand goats.

Arsalan Rafique | 9 years ago | Reply Palestine cause has for sometime stopped being a freedom struggle. It has become a proxy war.

Saad | 9 years ago | Reply @Furrukh Rao: What is there to "twist"? Most of what he said is within quotes. Do you understand what that means? (Here's a clue: Use of quotes denotes that the person actually SAID it.)

Saad | 9 years ago | Reply Spoken like a True Muslim.

Prada | 9 years ago | Reply The situation has completely taken a new twist !!!! WOW !!

Prada | 9 years ago | Reply What is bollywood actress Kajol doing with the Saudi prince in the photo??

A-No.1 | 9 years ago | Reply My enemies enemy is my friend. Now Saudis will kiss Zionist hands.

Dr.m.m.Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Who is this prince any way because there are about 10000 circulating around. What political theory is he practicing by calling Israel a JEWISH STATE when no other counry calls it as such. We all know KSA has been co operating With ISRAEL over many years. It allowed israeli airforce to fly over it's airspace to attack iraq to destroy it's nuclear programe. it wants to do the same viz viz iran. What does KSA do anyway for the Palestinians? Nothing. The demands of palestinians are just. There demand for a state is just. They chose peacefu methods by giving up 80 % of westbank and now they are fighting for East Jerusalam for all the moslems. Does this Prince understand this. What NeXT ? a trip to the JEWISH STATE but he will need permission to cross over to Palestine. There are two ways of practcing international relations. One is to study them and the other is to understand them. The Prince is in a class of his own..

someone | 9 years ago | Reply who's the girl next to him?

Sumit | 9 years ago | Reply Saudi has done the right thing, because it knows within 10 years its oil wealth start declining, so in future prospects Saudi made right decision for it's servival, by opening it's arms to others irrespective of rivalry, Pakistan should do the same, stop this ummah obsession and start working with rivals for mutual interest

سہیل یوسف | 9 years ago | Reply My dear Prince, Before saying something kindly have a look on innocent Palestinian children dying from starvation under the sky as the lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes more than a year back.

ZAK | 9 years ago | Reply It is matter of strengthening their rule. Every one do this.

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply I give the man credit for speaking the truth......and calling it like it is.

Misquoted | 9 years ago | Reply The heading is misleading. Very sad our media is doing this.

Furrukh Rao | 9 years ago | Reply @MAS: Dear don't compare your Colonial Country with Sauds they fought against Turks to get the Freedom unlike you who get freedom by Court. West is far more better than your tiny brain they never betrayed anyone. Go and do alliance with Russia whoever give you money you get in alliance with them.

darsenizami | 9 years ago | Reply i think its totaly propaganda about him ,

MAS | 9 years ago | Reply @Furrukh Rao and you think the Saudi Govt. will... i think Iran does more for Palestine that Saudi.. it is not the Press in Pakistan that is reporting this check your facts my friend.

JA | 9 years ago | Reply They can do anything to save their rule, but it seems their days are now counted, uprising is must

Sameer | 9 years ago | Reply Reality of so called UMMAH....europeans can have same currency, visa for each other, but so called Islamic brothers can't do that for ummah

Milind | 9 years ago | Reply Thankfully the Saudis are discovering pragmatism rather than blind religiosity... Tying up with Israel, will help them find their feet in the modern world, rather than clinging to nomadic and outdated notions of faith.

Ismail | 9 years ago | Reply Media Bashing-totally false and cooked up allegation are raising against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to start the insurgency in one of those few Muslim countries where there is still peace. No prince was there at the time of MENA stampede and Mr, Talal do not represent the policies of Kingdom.

MAS | 9 years ago | Reply Why does this surprise anyone !!! They know that soon they will be out of OIL and the West will end their alliance with them!! They will side with anyone that will give them the impression that their Monarchy will be in Power !!!

Furrukh Rao | 9 years ago | Reply I don't know why Press in Pakistan want to twist stories in their favor to create Gap between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The Price wanted to say simple that he will not allow any uprising in Palestine. Any Uprising in Palestine will cause more destruction to Palestine where Iran will never hit Israel we know this better.

Ahmad M. Qamar | 9 years ago | Reply No surprise! They sided with Israel even when US sided with Iran for a nuclear deal.

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