JEDDAH, 19 January 2003 — Deputy Minister of Interior Prince Ahmed said yesterday that the Kingdom wanted to know the reasons for the French Embassy’s refusal of entry visas to Saudis intending to attend an international conference of humanitarian organizations in Paris earlier this month.
"They have the right to accept or reject visa applications of anyone they want. But we want to know the reasons for their decision and hope such incidents would not repeat," the prince said referring to the embassy’s refusal to grant visas for representatives of 13 Saudi charities.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating some coast guard projects in Jeddah, Prince Ahmed also said that the Saudis arrested for their suspected links to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network will be transferred to judicial custody.
The minister, however, said the number of such detainees was very small. "Security agencies will not hold people for days or months for investigation unless they did not have evidence to prove that they were guilty. These people will then be tried at Shariah courts," he said.
Prince Ahmed also pointed out that all Saudis returning from Afghanistan were not linked to Al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization.
He said the installation of cameras on the northern border along Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan helped prevent border infiltrations and cross-border smuggling. "This experiment will be implemented on other borders as well," he added. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
