WASHINGTON - A prominent former Saudi Arabian diplomat has warned the United States against vetoing the proposed Arab bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September, saying such a move would have disastrous consequences on the US-Saudi relations. In the absence of productive negotiations, the time has come for Palestinians to bypass the United States and Israel and to seek direct international endorsement of statehood at the United Nations, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi ambassador to the US, wrote in a sharply-worded op-ed peace in The Washington Post. They (the Palestinians) will be fully supported in doing so by Saudi Arabia, other Arab nations and the vast majority of the international community all those who favour a just outcome to this stalemate and a stable Middle East. We Arabs used to say no to peace, and we got our comeuppance in 1967, Turki pointed out. In 2002, he said, King Abdullah offered what has become the Arab Peace Initiative. Based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, it calls for an end to the conflict based on land for peace.