The Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, on Thursday met U.S. President George W. Bush.
The meeting was attended by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
In a statement to the press following the meeting, Prince Saud said that he had conveyed a message from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, and another message issued by the Istanbul Conference, to President Bush.
Prince Saud reiterated the Kingdom’s desire to see a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis, and added: “The Kingdom is confident that President Bush will work towards this end.”
Prince Saud urged the Iraqi government to work closely with the UN inspectors so as to avoid the menace of war.
He praised the statement of President Bush regarding the importance of exerting efforts towards settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Prince Saud denied that he and Bush reviewed a Saudi plan to persuade Saddam Hussein to abdicate and go into voluntary exile. He said that he exchanged views with Bush on Arab concern about the possible repercussions of the demise of the situation in Iraq, and the dangers that would be caused by partition of the country.
When asked about the initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, pertaining to the Iraq crisis, Prince Saud said that the initiative calls for allowing Arab countries more time to work for a peaceful settlement of the crisis, even if the UN Security Council approves resort to military force for the disarmament of Iraq.
Source: SPA
