Monday, September 25, 2006

Saudi prince may have held secret meeting with PM envoy


"Prince Bandar, secretary general of the Saudi Arabian National Security Council and former Saudi ambassador to the United States, may be the senior official at the center of reports of contacts between Riyadh and Israel, Haaretz has learned.

Early on Monday, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had held a secret meeting with a senior Saudi official, perhaps King Abdullah. Olmert later issued a guarded denial of the report.

It now appears, however, that the meeting may not have involved Olmert, but an envoy of the prime minister's, and that the prince may have been his interlocutor.

Prince Bandar visited Jordan 10 days ago, the same time period as the reported secret Olmert meeting.

The prince served for nearly 22 years as the Saudi ambassador to Washington, playing a key role in facilitating peace moves in the Middle East."

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