Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, and the US Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, held here today a joint press conference following a meeting of the Saudi-U.S. joint commission for strategic dialogue.
Speaking on the occasion, Prince Saud said the first meeting of the Saudi-U.S. strategic dialogue was held earlier. He noted that the idea of the strategic dialogue was agreed upon by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and US President George W. Bush at their Summit held on 25 April, 2005, for further enhancing the historical bilateral relations which have been sustained for more than 60 years.
”The two leaders have described the strategic dialogue as the new era for enhancing the partnership that is based on historical relations, and continuation of dialogue between the Saudis and Americans to confront the contemporary challenges and to take the available opportunities for the sake of the future of the relations of the two countries”, he said.
Prince Saud said the strategic dialogue aims at discussing various strategic topics in the light of challenges facing both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US, like the menace of terrorism, and the wrong concepts about the culture of each other, as well as the consecutive crises facings the Middle East.
”This makes tireless work, mutual understanding and joint coordination an essential matter”, he said.
Prince Saud hoped that the joint desire for serious and tireless work will realize the desired goals of the strategic dialogue, and will positively contribute to the acceleration of the march of the bilateral relations for realizing joint aspirations at the official and popular levels.
On her part, Rice said: "We have discussed the strategic relations and the previous talks of President Bush and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
"We have discussed important issues, notably means of combating terrorism, the balance in the Middle East, the current situation in Iraq, as well as economic topics and horizons of cooperation”, she said.
She welcomed the admission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the World Trade Organization, and said the Saudi-US commission will hold a meeting every six months.
Replying to a question on the expected time for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the US Secretary of State pointed out that coalition countries' troops entered Iraq aiming to impose stability and security and to give the Iraqi people an opportunity for building a better future by supporting a political process.
The US Administration hoped for building Iraqi forces able to defend themselves, Rice said and added that international forces in Iraq were authorized by the United Nations. “Iraq is facing terrorist groups killing Iraqi citizens”, Rice indicated.
The U.S. Secretary of State stressed that terrorist groups committing terrorist acts in Iraq are similar to groups that want to inflict damage in Riyadh, London and New York.
Rice expressed her confidence that the United States of America and other countries will not be in need of a large number of forces and that the Iraqi people will reach a level to enable them to carry their responsibilities. She noted that any decision on the size of forces will be left to commanders and the circumstances on the ground.
Commenting on the endeavors of certain quarters to insult Saudi Arabia, notably the accountability act pertaining to the Kingdom at the US Congress presented by certain pressure groups, Condoleezza Rice said 'there are so many parties in the US who speak and express their views about the US relations with others."
She added: "This matter is not just confined to the Saudi-American relations, but it is about American relations with any other country. There are supporting and opposing voices, but as regards the stand of the US Administration, I would like to confirm that these relations are strong, and we have a lot of mutual interests, and so we do work for further enhancing these interests".
"There is no secrecy, and we should dedicate our efforts in so many domains, especially in combating terrorism, financing terrorism and the role of some societies which, without the knowledge of the Saudi Government, contribute to financing the terror operations, and this problem is a matter of concern not only for the US, but also for the Saudi Government".
"We should discuss all problems and differences in a frank and honest manner, and this makes us believe that the strategic dialogue will become a good channel for discussion of details of so many problems".
"What has taken place in Jordan will make us more determined on combating terrorism, and I think that cooperation exists in this respect, and we are always open to any ideas that may positively contribute to further enhance cooperation".
On his part, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said that there is no doubt that the US public misunderstands these relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the vice versa.
"We believe that any policy which is not based on mutual understanding will cause problems. We and the US are working to influence this situation either in the policy which is based on mutual interests, or with the aspirations of the public opinion".
On the forthcoming visit of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz to Egypt, Prince Saud said: "Crown Prince Sultan will visit Egypt, and I am certain that the visit will provide a good opportunity to review a number of topics pertaining to bilateral relations".
