LONDON: The chair of the Gulf Research Center, Abdulaziz Sager, on Thursday wrote to French newspaper Le Monde clarifying his position on comments about the conflict in Gaza that were attributed to him in a story published the previous day.
The newspaper’s story suggested that there was a proposed joint Saudi-French plan to exile Hamas leaders to Algeria. However, sources have denied this.
Sager said that the opinions expressed by him in the Le Monde story were his own, shared off the record, and did not reflect or represent the views of any official body or organization.
He wrote: “I read the article published in your newspaper on Dec. 20, 2023, by journalist Benjamin Barthe,” titled Transfer Hamas military leaders to Algiers: A Saudi plan submitted to the French Foreign Ministry.
“In it, the journalist mentioned some opinions that were attributed to me regarding Gaza. In all cases, I express my own opinions as a researcher interested in Gulf affairs and as the head of an independent research institution.
“These opinions were not meant for publishing. Naturally, they do not reflect the opinions of any governmental or official body whatsoever.
“I wanted to clarify that all that has been mentioned in the piece, attributed to me, does not reflect the position of any government body, whether Saudi or French, but mere personal ideas, suggestions and opinions.”
