New York yesterday rejected a US$10 million donation for victims of the World Trade Center attack from a senior member of the Saudi royal family after he criticized US policy in the Middle East.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani described comments by Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, a nephew of King Fahd and the kingdom's most prominent businessman, as "highly irresponsible" and "dangerous."
Giuliani earlier toured the rubble of the trade center with Walid, who handed over the check for the Twin Towers Fund, set up to help families of emergency service workers killed in the Sept.11 terrorist attack.
But after hearing of Walid's comments, which condemned the attack but suggested Washington should learn from it, Giuliani's office issued a statement saying the check had been rejected.
"When we became aware of Prince Walid's statements, we investigated whether the check had been deposited. The check has not been deposited. The Twin Towers Fund has not accepted it," said the statement.
Walid said he came to visit "Ground Zero" to offer condolences to families of victims of the attack, which left some 5,160 people missing or dead, and to condemn terrorism.
"However, at times like these, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack," he said, according to a statement issued by his Kingdom Holdings Company in Riyadh.
"I believe the government of the United States should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause," he added, calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis as the world [looks the other way]," said Walid, listed by Forbes Magazine as the sixth-richest man in the world with a fortune of more than US$20 billion.
When informed of Walid's comments, Giuliani retorted: "I entirely reject that statement."
"The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered four or five thousand innocent people, and to suggest that there is a justification for it only invites this happening in the future," he said.
"It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous. Not only are those statements wrong, they are part of the problem."
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations praised Giuliani's decision and accused Walid of stirring up "hostile propaganda."
"To take advantage of this sacred site and exploit it for narrow political purposes violates every standard of decency," said a statement from the group.
The embarassing row comes amid sniping in the US press over the lack of cooperation from the Saudis in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he was unware of Walid's statement and had no immediate comment.
However earlier in the day White House spokesman Ari Fleischer rejected a New York Times report citing US officials saying Riyadh had refused to tie up assets of bin Laden and his associates since Sept. 11.
US President George W. Bush "is very satisfied with their cooperation on all aspects of the war against terrorism," Fleischer told reporters.
Walid a major investor in the US, and has stakes in prominent US ventures that include Citigroup, AOL Time Warner, News Corp, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The Walid statement noted that the prince, who did postgraduate studies at Syracuse University, has "a special affinity to New York," with "numerous investment ventures in the Big Apple."
"I speak for all Muslims, Arabs and Saudis when I say that we represent the absolute antithesis of terror ... I also want to reiterate Saudi Arabia's stance in condemning all forms of terrorism," said the prince.
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