 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Special Interview Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Prince's remarks
Nadia Abou El-Magd
trigger newspaper battleFor almost a week, the Nasserist opposition newspaper, Al-Arabi, dedicated half a page of paid advertisements every day for one purpose: attacking Prince Talal bin Abdel-Aziz for remarks he made in an interview with Egyptian television.
Prince Talal, 68, head of the Arab Council of Childhood and Saudi Arabia's King Fahd's half-brother, was a guest of the popular bi-monthly talk show, Ra'is Al-Tahrir (Editor-in-Chief) presented by veteran broadcaster, Hamdi Qandil.
In the interview, Prince Talal called for greater democracy in the Arab world and more freedom for women in Saudi Arabia and in other Gulf states. He also said that sanctions against Iraq should be lifted. The Saudi prince declared support for Ismail Serageldin, the Egyptian candidate for the post of UNESCO director-general, as opposed to Saudi Arabia's ambassador to London, Ghazi Al-Qussaibi, who is Riyadh's candidate. Prince Talal also said that although he opposes normalisation of relations with Israel, he believes that Arab intellectuals should be able to visit Israel.
"I'm not urging tourist groups to go to Israel; I'm saying that engineers, lawyers, journalists and intellectuals should be allowed by their professional syndicates and parties to go to Israel," the Saudi prince said.
Al-Arabi used this last remark to spearhead a campaign against Prince Talal. The Nasserist newspaper quoted him as saying that "forbidding visits to Israel shows the Arabs' stupidity" and commented: "Has nationalism become stupidity in this troubled time in which we are living?"
Al-Arabi described the prince's attempt to draw a distinction between normalisation and visiting Israel as "nonsense" and wondered "if Egyptian TV has become a tool to promote visits to the Zionist entity."
The "independent" weekly, Al-Osbou', whose chief editor, Mustafa Bakri also styles himself as a Nasserist, responded that the reason for this paid campaign against Prince Talal is not because of what he said about visiting Israel but because of the prince's support of Serageldin and his criticism of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries on the issues of Iraq and liberties.
Bakri dedicated a whole page to defending Prince Talal, although he disagreed with him on the issue of visiting Israel. Bakri said that "some people," whom he did not identify, paid $10 million for the campaign against the prince and his son.
The battle between the two newspapers astonished observers. While much of Prince Talal's comments in his TV interview must have created something of a stir in his home country, the heated exchange between two Egyptian newspaper seemed an exaggerated response.
In the interview, the prince admitted that his views would not be received favourably back home. He insisted, however, that nothing would make him change his mind. "The wise among Arab leaders would ask the political parties, if they exist, or syndicates or university professors, to adopt a form of democracy that suits their country," Prince Talal told Egyptian television. He also said that "religion is for giving women their rights, including the right to drive cars. Giving women in Kuwait [their right to vote and run for legislative elections] is bound to affect the rest of the Gulf states and all Arab countries in which women do not have their rights." Women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.
Talal was no less controversial when he talked about Iraq. "The goal [of the sanctions] was to get rid of Saddam Hussein, but the West proved incapable of doing so for the past nine years. The man is still in power and those who die are our people in Iraq. I strongly believe that the embargo is a wrong policy."
Asked whether he thinks Iraq should apologise to Kuwait to make an Arab reconciliation possible, the prince responded: "Even if they apologise, it is not going to be acceptable, I assure you."
The prince added that Saudi Arabia paid $50-70 billion to finance the 1991 Gulf War and criticised the "exaggerated" armament of Gulf countries and foreign presence in the region.
In its campaign against Talal, Al-Arabi said that it is not seeking to engage in a "verbal battle or media quarrels" with the prince. The newspaper, however, quoted Talal as telling The Associated Press that "he and his brothers should step aside and allow the next generation to succeed to the throne. Talal did not say who should rule the oil-rich kingdom, but appeared to be pushing the chances of his billionaire son, Al-Walid."
Al-Arabi dedicated part of its campaign to attacking Al-Walid, 33, on a personal level. The Islamic weekly, Al-Nur, also in a paid advertisement, turned the heat on the prince and his son for placing "$11 billion in Western, instead of Arab, banks."
"Why is he [the prince] suggesting this [the new generation's accession to the throne] now? What are his motives to address an unnecessary issue, especially that there are solid, accepted and known rules for succession in the stable monarchy?" Al-Arabi wrote. "Isn't this an attempt to foment trouble and conflict? Aren't these strange and dangerous statements a repugnant attempt to destabilise the monarchy?"
