We will not take part in military actions: Prince Saud

RIYADH, December 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Saudi Arabia, the chief U.S. ally in the Gulf, Tuesday, December 24, has denied reports it had advised Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down in order to avert a U.S.-led war and said it would not take part in war against Iraq.

“Contacts with Iraq by Saudi Arabia and all Arab countries have continued. We have not asked the Iraqi leadership to step down, maybe other Arab states did,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told a press conference, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

But the chief diplomat of the oil-rich kingdom declined to answer a question on whether Riyadh would grant Saddam political asylum if he quit power.

Prince Saud renewed the kingdom’s rejection of a threatened U.S.-led war against neighboring Iraq, saying it would not take part in any military action.

“If the U.N. Security Council sanctions war against Iraq, this requires cooperation by all countries.”

“But this does not mean all countries must take part in military action. Obviously, we will not take part in military actions,” Prince Saud stressed.

He said that allowing U.S. and British aircraft operating from Prince Sultan Air Base to enforce a so-called “no-fly” zone over southern Iraq “does not mean the kingdom will attack Iraq or will allow striking Iraq from its territories.”

“There has been no change to the duties of foreign troops in the kingdom since after the end of the 1991 Gulf War,” he said.

U.N. Should Decide If Iraq Breached Resolution

Prince Saud said Riyadh was pleased with Iraq’s cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors and “hope their report would help spare Iraq any military action.”

He said it was up to the U.N. Security Council to decide if the Iraqi declaration on its weapons programs constituted a possibly war-triggering material breach of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441.

“We assume that any declaration of Iraq having committed a material breach should come from the U.N. Security Council,” since the matter has been referred to the United Nations, he underlined.

Washington has claimed the Iraqi report contained omissions, which constituted a material breach of the U.N. resolution, an allegation refuted by Iraq.

Saudi Arabia houses some 5,000 U.S. troops and several British and French jets at Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Riyadh.

The kingdom allowed the U.S. troops to use their hi-tech command and control systems in the war against Afghanistan.