Kingdom Renews Call to End War on Iraq
Riyadh [SPA]............................
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the foreign minister, renewed the Kingdom’s call for halting military actions against Iraq, returning to peaceful offices and resorting to the United Nations to solve the crisis within international legitimate framework so that Iraq’s national security and civil institutions are spared the war’s destructive effects and that the Iraqi people and their potentials are preserved. In his weekly press conference here Tuesday, Prince Saud noted the address of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the Kingdom’s stand on the importance of halting these military actions as soon as possible and of preserving Iraq’s unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Within the framework of its responsibility for humanitarian services, the Kingdom has provided, as a first stage, a comprehensive and human assistance of foodstuffs, medicine and camps to serve 24,000 displaced people in anticipation of emergencies and to relieve the plight of Iraqi citizens, Prince Saud pointed out. He said that Iraq was informed at the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo of the measures taken by the Kingdom to help the displaced people, noting that the Iraqi government requested that assistance not to be distributed until the Iraqi government requests it. On the foreign ministers’ statement, Prince Saud said the statement was presented by the Iraqi delegation and the Iraqi foreign minister was happy over the Arab League’s support. Replying to a question on sending primary oil shipments to Jordan, Prince Saud said, Jordan, as an Arab country, is suffering from its dependence on Iraqi oil supplies that were halted because of war.
The prince wondered who else will help Jordan maintain its economic situation, but its Arab brothers, and the Kingdom is among these Arab countries that will contribute to compensate for the shortage. As regards to the expected Arab countries’ movement after the start of war, Prince Saud said the war has allowed the two parties to assess the losses caused by the war, stressing the importance of opening the way for diplomatic action to solve the problem without creating an inherent breach between Arabs and the American and British peoples. He said the Arab League has contacted the United Nations Security Council to convene an extraordinary session to discuss ways of bringing the war to a halt. He suggested that “it is time to immediately halt hostilities in Iraq and open the way for diplomacy to work. The two warring sides should have realized that the tragic war would cause huge damage to Iraq and both have to compromise for peace instead of offering sacrifices for war,” he said.
Prince Saud asserted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue its endeavors for peace. “We’ll be knocking on all doors to bring about peace,” he said. Asked about the position of the Kingdom if war in Iraq has sidestepped its objectives, he said “At that time we would have to take the proper decision.” He denied that Iraq has any frozen assets in the Kingdom. In response to a question on the position of the Arab countries should Iraq prove to have no weapons of mass destruction, he said, the issue would then be decided by the Security Council. Asked on whether the war might trigger sentiments of hatred among the Saudi people against the British and American peoples, he said he could not believe that people look to the matter as hatred towards the British and American people, although there could be feelings towards policies and decisions of launching the war.
“You can see that hundreds of thousands of Britons and Americans are against this war. However, their countries launched war against Iraq. So, if the matter has been left to peoples’ sentiments, we have nothing to worry about,” he said. He added that the continuation of war would lead to more hatred and expose people to danger. So, war should be stopped immediately. Commenting on reports that the American forces might stay in Iraq after accomplishing its declared objectives, he said, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects occupation. Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the position of absolute rejection of occupation of Iraq was announced by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz in an address last week read on his behalf by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard. “And here I am reiterating it: “We are against the occupation of Iraq which is in no need of a foreign administration. This is our official position.”
Reviewing the reasons which led to the current situation, he said, both sides are to blame. “The Iraqi government has been committing errors over the last 12 years,” he said in reference to Iraq’s failure to completely comply with the United Nations resolutions. “In this context, what the US says about Iraq is correct and the efforts it had exerted have resulted in Iraq’s reception of the arms inspectors,” Prince Saud said, adding that “US then hastened to wage war instead of waiting for the results of inspection.” Prince Saud suggested that most of the reasons behind war were psychological rather than real. “If the US wants the oil of our region, oil is available in the world markets and no need to go to war to get it,” he said. He said the relation between the Middle East oil exporting countries and the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, is constructive rather than threatening. He said oil is never the reason behind this war: The US and other consumers could easily get their needs of oil from Middle East producers.
Let us work to stop this war which would only lead to devastating results, and instead let us realize cooperation among us as it is the best way of exchanging interests, Prince Saud said. He ruled out that occupation of Iraq is the motive of the US. He cited the experience of liberating Kuwait in 1991 where the US troops left the scene as soon as the war was over. “I cannot make the assumption that the US is motivated by its oil needs to occupy Iraq,” he concluded. On the justifications of economic sanctions imposed on Iraq, especially as the US and Britain have bypassed international legitimacy, Prince Saud affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that have been calling for the lifting of sanctions since sanctions only harm the Iraqi people.
On the effects of war on the future of the Palestinian problem, Prince Saud said: “Among the tragedies to be added to those of war, fighting, blood-shedding, is its effect on the Palestinian problem,” he added that, at least we have sensed the US and British open and frank admission of the necessity of solving the Palestinian problem. The real test, Prince Saud elaborated, is serious implementation of the “Roadmap” and relating it to the Arab Initiative adopted by the Beirut Arab summit. In a comment on whether the Kingdom will contribute to the balance of the bill of the war against Iraq, Prince Saud expressed his bewilderment over such a question, and said “there is no good reason to justify this assumption.”
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