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U.S. Official Accuses Saudi Arabia of Fearing Democratic Iraq
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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal
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LONDON,
August 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Ken Adelman, a senior
advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, accused Wednesday,
August 28, Saudi Arabia of opposing a strike on Iraq because they
feared a future stable Iraq.
Adelman
claimed that the Saudis regarded the aftermath of a regime change in
Iraq would be detrimental to the kingdom.
“What
they really fear is to have a neighbor which is democratic, which is
open, which is oil-rich, which is successful – like the top part of
Iraq right now, the part that is protected by U.K. and U.S. airpower
through the no-fly zones,” BBC’s online news service quoted him as
saying.
These
accusations come immediately after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud
Al-Faisal called the U.S. intention of removing Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein “unwise,” saying that it was up to the Iraqi people to
decide the fate of their leader.
“Whether
Saddam Hussein remains or is removed from power is up to the Iraqi
people,” Prince Saud told BBC radio’s World at One program.
The
Bush administration has repeatedly warned that it could take military
action to overthrow Saddam and halt Iraq’s alleged development of
weapons of mass destruction.
“There
is a chance for diplomacy to work," Prince Saud said, insisting
such channels were the best route to resolving the crisis and
preserving Iraq's "unity and territorial integrity.”
“To
say that the most important thing about Iraq is the removal of Saddam
Hussein, we think, is an unwise, to say the least, decision to make
about Iraq,” he said.
Prince
Saud said that Saudi Arabia had suffered at the hands of Saddam in the
past, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“He
attacked Saudi Arabia with Scud missiles. One of them exploded right
on top of my home in Riyadh. So the threat was very real,” he said.
“No
one can say that Saudi Arabia in its policy does not give due
consideration to what the threat of Mr. Saddam Hussein has for the
region.”
His
interview came a day after President George W. Bush met in Crawford,
Texas with Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, and as
ties between the two countries seemed to be reaching a low ebb.
Mistrust
has been fueled by a war of words in the press, trillion-dollar
lawsuits, questions about alleged aid provided by senior Saudi figures
to Islamic extremist groups, and the claim that 15 of the 19 hijackers
known to have carried out the September 11 attacks last year were
Saudi nationals.
“I
think we will weather any storm that comes,” said the Saudi foreign
minister, who said that his country had done perhaps more than any
other since September 11 to show its support for the United States.
“We
have been instrumental until now at least in preventing 70-90 million
dollars (71-92 million euros) reaching Al-Qaeda in the last few
months,” he said.
“Saudi
Arabia has cooperated completely with the U.S. and this stems not from
the friendship between the two countries alone, but because this
terrorism is as much targeting Saudi Arabia as it is targeting the
U.S.,” he added.
Meanwhile,
Rumsfeld compared
Wednesday U.S. President George W. Bush’s international isolation
over plans to attack Iraq with the lonely stand taken by Winston
Churchill before the Second World War, U.K. newspaper, the Times,
reported.
Drawing
parallels with the threat that Rumsfeld says is posed by Saddam
Hussein, he highlighted the strong stance Churchill took against the
threat of Hitler, because the British Prime Minister realized what a
threat the German leader was to Europe, the Times said
Addressing
3,000 marines in California who would be sent to the Gulf in the event
of war, Rumsfeld said that Bush had made no decision on whether to
invade Iraq, but added that “Leadership in the right direction finds
followers and supporters.”
According
to the Times, Rumsfeld said it was more important to do the
right thing than to have everyone in agreement with you, “even
though at the outset it may seem lonesome”.
“I
don’t know how many countries will participate in the event the
President does decide that the risks of not acting are greater that
the risks of acting,” Rumsfeld said.
“But
I’ve found over the years that when our country does make the right
judgments, the right decisions, that other countries do co-operate and
they do participate.”
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