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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (44148)	9/15/2002 2:13:30 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Appears to have influenced Saudi Arabia. Saudis May Be Changing Iraq Policy Associated Press ^ \| Sunday, September 15, 2002 library.northernlight.com DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The Saudi foreign minister said Sunday the kingdom would be ``obliged to follow through'' if the United States needed bases in the kingdom to attack Iraq under U.N. authority. The comments to CNN by Prince Saud al-Faisal would mark a dramatic change in Saudi policy. In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Saud declared that U.S. facilities in the desert kingdom would be off limits for an attack on Iraq. When asked by CNN specifically if Saudi bases would be available to Washington, Saud said: ``Everybody is obliged to follow through.'' The remote Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh hosts most of the 5,000 U.S. troops based in Saudi Arabia. Saud's apparent policy shift came as world opinion shifted toward taking some collective action to contain Iraq, accused by the United States of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, harboring terrorists and defying the United Nations. Last week, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt, among the most influential Arab states, said his government would support a U.S. strike on Iraq if it were under U.N. auspices. Saudi Arabia has joined Iraq's other Arab neighbors in cautioning the United States not to attack, saying it would only further destabilize a region made volatile by Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Also Sunday, Saud urged Iraq to quickly allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to head off a Security Council resolution that could open the way for military attacks. ``Timing is important, and allowing inspectors back before a Security Council resolution to that effect would be in Iraq's favor,'' he told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat. ``We are afraid that (a refusal) would harm the Iraqi people and increase their burden. We are worried about Iraq's unity, stability and independence,'' al-Faisal said. In New York Saturday, envoys from Arab League issued a similar plea during the General Assembly, saying Iraq should heed international calls to allow inspectors back and avert a confrontation with the United States that could further destabilize the Middle East. Arab League ministers said Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told them Saturday that Iraq was ready to let the inspectors return but not before certain conditions were met. The United Nations has rejected any conditions. President Bush, who accuses Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, has proposed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set a short deadline for a resumption of inspections and threaten action if Iraq does not comply. Bush also has said the United States would act unilaterally if Iraq continued its defiance and the international community did not respond. U.N. Security Council resolutions passed after the 1991 Gulf War say Iraq must eliminate weapons of mass destruction, and the means to produce them. Iraq claims to have done so, but it has refused to admit U.N. arms inspectors since 1998. Given that Iraq denies it has a program to stockpile or produce such weapons, Saud said Iraq should not fear the return of inspectors. ``What is wrong in allowing them back and put all this to an end? We believe it would be a wise move,'' Saud said. Saud told CNN Sunday that in the event of war, Saudi Arabia ``will do everything we can'' to keep oil prices stable and he believed other OPEC members would cooperate.