Prince Saud Alfaisal holds press briefing

Riyadh, March 15, SPA -- Prince Saud Alfaisal, the Foreign Minister, described the Arab Quartet Summit which was held in Riyadh as an icebreaker meeting.

The remarks came in a statement read by Prince Saud at the beginning
of the periodic press briefing he held here today.

The statement expressed the kingdom's pleasure with the results of
Riyadh's Arab Quartet Summit which aimed at clearing the atmosphere
and serving Arab reconciliation. Prince Saud said that the summit
discussed current issues on which views were exchanged with all
frankness and transparency and in extremely constructive and positive
atmosphere.

Prince Saud said the meeting reinforced the strong conviction by the
leaders of the importance of renouncing causes of division and
dispute in joint Arab work, solving the accumulated problems through
dialogue and consultation and achieving solidarity in serving our
fateful causes.

Prince Saud said that during the meeting, the leaders agreed on
expanding the circle of and intensifying Arab reconciliation to
provide all causes of success for the forthcoming Arab Summit in Doha
to enable it to deal with the Arab situation in general and the
situations in Palestine, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon in particular to
reach a unified stand and common position to deal with all regional
and international parties.

Prince Saud said that the summit discussed the regional and
international interferences in these crises and there was consensus
to give priority to Arab higher interests over all considerations
maintain the interests of the Arab homelands and peoples and adhere
to the core of our legitimate rights and fateful causes.

Prince Saud stated that the rest of the Arab leaders will be informed
of the results of the quartet summit which he hoped will be the basis
for a new phase that will advance and develop joint Arab work.


Prince Saud said that based on the spirit of Arab accord and
reconciliation of Riyadh's meeting, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
renews its wholeheartedly stand with the efforts of the national
dialogue at the domestic Lebanese arena and the national
reconciliation among the Palestinians under the auspices of Egypt.
Prince Saud called on all Lebanese and Palestinian leaders to bear in
mind that the enemy is not one of their homelands' peoples but it is
from abroad.

Prince Saud added that it is a truism to say that their unity leads
to strength and their division to weakness and loss of their national
rights. He called upon the Lebanese and Palestinian leaders not to
waste these opportunities urging them to intensify efforts to make
the Lebanese dialogue and Palestinian reconciliation successful to
achieve the goals of stability and security in both countries which
are an integral part of Arab stability and security.

Concerning Sudan, Prince Saud Alfaisal reiterated concern over the
arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against
President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. He expressed belief that this
decision adds more complications and creates obstacles to resolving
the Darfur crisis. Prince Saud stressed the kingdom's stand by
Sudan's sovereignty, stability, preservation of its security and
territorial integrity.

On relations with Iran, Prince Saud Alfaisal said that the Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques received today the Iranian foreign minister
Manouchehr Mottaki, who conveyed to the Monarch a message from
President Ahmadinejad on relations between the two countries and the
situations in the Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East.

Prince Saud said that he held with his Iranian counterpart bilateral
talks during which these issues were discussed. Prince Saud said the
talks were characterized by the required frankness, openness and
transparency.

Prince Saud said that "although we appreciate the Iranian support for
Arab causes, we believe that this support should be channeled through
the Arab legitimacy, be consistent with its goals and positions,
express its support for it and not be a replacement for it. Prince
Saud said that "at the same time, we believe that the unity of Arab
and Palestinian ranks will help achieve these objectives. We are sure
that Iran shares us in these objectives. Both of us should exert the
necessary effort at this stage to ensure the stability of relations
on the basis of fruitful cooperation and mutual respect."

Then, Prince Saud answered the questions of reporters.


As regards the role of the Kingdom in the International Criminal
Court's decision against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, Prince
Saud said that the Kingdom is part of the Islamic and Arab worlds. In
this context, the Kingdom is participating with Islamic and Arab
communities in condemning this decision. Such decision will not lead
to the stability of Sudan or the solution of the problem of Darfur.
The decision is "politically motivated". If not, why did it appear in
such time and in this format? In spite of the adverse results of the
decision, we will stand with Sudan. I expect that all the Islamic and
Arab countries will support the same thing.

As regards his call to revive the joint Arab defense pact, Prince
Saud said that this agreement is part of what has been introduced by
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud to reform the work of the Arab League and the Arab summit in
particular and seriousness and credibility to give its work. Prince
Saud wondered why such an important institution of the Arab League
did not hold a meeting until now, stressing that the call is standing
and hopefully will materialize.

In response to a question about whether the Palestinians failed to
agree among themselves, Prince Saud said if the Palestinians did not
agree, who else would agree. If they did not agree, the issues will
remain divided and their interests will be blown by the wind.

In his reply to a question about not issuing a final statement of the
Quartet Summit held in Riyadh and patronized by the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques, Prince Saud said "I personally issued the statement
which the summit issued". He pointed out that reconciliation steps
have not yet been completed to give an integrated statement on the
reconciliation subject, calling at the same time to wait until steps
are completed.

Whether the Arab reconciliation's expansion will include Saudi-Libyan
relations, Prince Saud said that Arab disputes and disagreements are
many and we do not want to count them, stressing that any
rapprochement between two Arab countries will be in accordance with
the approach proposed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at
Kuwait Summit.

As regards the Turkish-Iranian rapprochement, Prince Saud said
"Turkey and Iran are two Islamic countries. We do not consider this
rapprochement as a threat to the security of the region. On the
contrary, when more agreements are held among Islamic countries, the
region will benefit more. Prince Saud described the Turkish role as
positive.

--SPA