- DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. regional
ally, said on Sunday it would not allow the United States to use its facilities
for any attack against neighboring Iraq even if a strike was sanctioned
by the United Nations.
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- "We will abide by the decision of the United Nations
Security Council and we will cooperate with the Security Council. But as
to entering the conflict or using facilities... that is something else,"
Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told CNN.
-
- "Our policy is that if the United Nations takes
a decision on Chapter 7, it is obligatory on all signatories to cooperate
but that is not to the extent of using facilities in the country or the
military forces of the country," he added.
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- Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter makes it mandatory for
U.N. member countries to implement any measure immediately as part of international
law.
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- The prince's remarks were the strongest Saudi rejection
of any assistance to a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.
-
- Prince Saud has in the past indicated the United States
could use bases in Saudi Arabia for an attack on Iraq if it was sanctioned
by the United Nations.
-
- Saud told CNN the kingdom wanted a political resolution
to the Iraq crisis and that Baghdad had made a "very clear and unambiguous
promise" to Arab states that it would abide by U.N. resolutions. "We
think the road is set for that."
-
- The United States wants to end Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein's rule over his alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
and has threatened military action. The United Nations is seeking a resolution
to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Baghdad after a four-year absence.
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- Iraq denies U.S. weapons charges and has agreed to the
return of arms inspectors.
-
- "Saudi Arabia's position is a position to support
the political settlement of this issue because we think it is feasible,"
Saud said.
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- The Gulf region is bristling with U.S. troops and weaponry,
Saudi Arabia alone has 5,000 U.S. forces, and Washington has said it would
require regional military help for any offensive against Iraq.
-
- Riyadh was a launchpad for the U.S.-led 1991 Gulf War
that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait after a seven-month occupation.
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- Washington could launch an attack on Iraq without using
bases inside Saudi Arabia but the air campaign would be more difficult
if the United States could not at least use Saudi air space.
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- The Saudi foreign minister said the fate of Saddam should
be decided by the Iraqi people and warned against a long-term U.S. military
presence in Iraq in the event of an attack against Baghdad. "You can
never make a permanent change through occupation by foreign forces,"
he said.
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- Saudi Arabia has been a strategic U.S. ally for more
than half a century but the relationship was severely strained by last
year's September 11 attacks on the United States, in which 15 of the 19
men believed to be the suicide attackers were Saudis, by a possible U.S.
attack on Iraq and the Middle East conflict.
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