RIYADH, 9 September — A military strike against Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein will neither resolve the problem nor serve Washington’s own interests, the Kingdom’s intelligence chief was quoted yesterday as saying.
"We believe that military action will not lead to any result. It is not in the interest of the United States to undertake such an action," Prince Nawaf told Okaz Arabic daily.
"The Kingdom rejects launching strikes against Iraq and does not agree to any military offensive against it," he said.
He advised Washington to solve the Israel-Palestinian question in order to win the support of governments in the region.
"We are asking the Americans to resolve the Middle East crisis and, if they do, they will win over the whole region... Prove to the peoples of this region you are supporters of justice," he said.
US President George W. Bush has supported the establishment of an independent Palestinian state but steps being "taken by the United States do not lead to stability in the region," Prince Nawaf said.
But the prince praised the level of cooperation between the Saudi intelligence services and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
"We have great cooperation with the CIA. There is an exchange of information and expertise. We want to benefit from US expertise and they are cooperating with us. Cooperation is vital," he said.
Referring to allegations that the Kingdom was detaining more than 14 American children without handing them over to their US mothers, he said: "This report is totally false. Where are these children and why do we want to detain them? This is baseless talk and nobody will believe it."
On President Bush’s telephone conversation with Prince Abdullah, the regent, the intelligence chief said: "The talks between Prince Abdullah and Bush reflected the deep-rooted ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States."
Prince Nawaf said Riyadh had extended full cooperation to Washington in the fight against international terrorism. "We differ with the US only on the Middle East issue," he said, adding that the US stand on the issue was muddying bilateral relations.
