BRIEFING BY PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SAUDI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

March 12, 2003

Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal, at his weekly briefing today in Jeddah, reiterated the need to avoid military action against Iraq and to solve the issue through peaceful means. He urged Iraq to clearly meet the requirements of the UN inspectors' report, and expressed regret at the division among members of the UN Security Council. He confirmed that Saudi Arabia is taking all necessary precautions to safeguard against a possible war, and declared that in the event of a Security Council resolution authorizing military action, Saudi Arabia will base its decisions on its higher national interest.

Prince Saud declared that Saudi Arabia is ready to assist any Iraqi refugees, but that no Saudi, either military or civilian, would enter Iraq without Iraqi permission. On whether Saudi Arabia would be willing to deal with a post-Saddam U.S. military regime in Iraq, he expressed doubts that the United States would be able to impose a political system of its own on an independent country; but commented that the Kingdom would definitely deal with an Iraqi regime after the fall of Saddam. He denied, however, that there had been Saudi contacts with the Iraqi opposition, since the Kingdom does not interfere in the internal affairs of others.

On the presence of U.S. troops in Tabuk and Hafr Al-Baten, Prince Saud referred to Prince Sultan's statement concerning anticipated humanitarian concerns in the area, and the need for the Kingdom to be prepared for such catastrophes. For the same reason, the Arar civil airport is now a military base, for the purpose of protecting and helping refugees.

Asked to comment on reports of U.S. plans to alter other regimes in the region, Prince Saud advised waiting to see what will happen in Iraq. He denied that the Kingdom had refused to take part in an ad hoc committee set up by the Arab Summit at Sharm Alshaikh to hold dialogue with different parties on the Iraqi political issue. He confirmed that a promise had been made by U.S. President George W. Bush in a message to Crown Prince Abdullah that a fair peace in the Middle East would be achieved following the war in Iraq.

To a question on the recent visit to the United States by a delegation from the League of Arab States, Prince Saud clarified that the visit was to the United Nations in New York, and not to Washington DC; he was unaware of any plan to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush. The delegation's message is that to avoid war, Iraq must acquiesce with the UN Inspectors' requests, and the Security Council must take a clear and unified stance. Neither of these has happened. The time had passed, he said, for the Arab countries to be given a chance by the United Nations to try to avert war.

On the Kingdom's relationship with Libya, Prince Saud affirmed that this returned to normal without mediation following the incident at the Arab Summit.