Saudi suggests kingdom would let U.S. use bases against Iraq
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.
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