JEDDAH, 7 August 2003 — “We have nothing to hide,” proclaimed Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal here yesterday in a scathing attack on the fact that 28 pages of a congressional report on supposed links between Saudi Arabia and the Sept. 11 hijackers remain classified.
Saudi Arabia had addressed all accusations levied against it, with facts and figures, but parts of the US Congress seemed to have “deaf ears” when it comes to Saudi Arabia’s efforts, he said.
“How can Saudi Arabia be the main country fighting terrorism now and exchanging information that saved the lives of people in the United States and at the same time assist terrorism? How is that possible?” the prince asked during a press conference here.
“The Kingdom will not fall prey to false accusations. These accusations are very dangerous, and there is no way that we will accept them or be silent on the matter.
“Where are the facts, where is the evidence? If they want to hide the truth, make false accusations and write unpublished documents here and there, we cannot deal with that,” he said.
“The truth needs to be told and these accusations need to be addressed for the sake of finding the truth,” the prince insisted.
The Saudi government, some members of Congress and at least two presidential candidates have sought declassification of the section, but President George W. Bush has refused.
“Good relations between sovereign nations will always require efforts from both sides,” Prince Saud said.
When asked about stories of mistreatment of Saudis in the United States because of the new security measures of the Patriot Act, the prince said: “If the United States implemented security measures that it believes are to its benefit, then that is its privilege.”
However, he said Saudi Arabia would not allow any government body to harm its people. He added the Patriot Act had not been an unqualified success, either in terms of increasing homeland security in the US or in helping relations between the two countries.
“The question needs to be addressed: Have these measures improved safety or have they just dampened US-Saudi relations?”
Regarding the volatile situation in Iraq, the prince voiced the Kingdom’s total support for Iraq, saying Baghdad, whether under US occupation or not, “remains at the heart of the Arab world.”
The situation in Iraq does not depend on Arab efforts alone, said Prince Saud and added that “individual actions to deal with this issue are not in the interest of Iraq”.
“The government of Saudi Arabia is always keen to establish a unified Arab position to be able to respond to the big questions about what Iraq may need,” he added.
Prince Saud also announced that Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, will soon embark on a tour of several Arab countries and Russia for talks on Iraq and Middle East peace.
The tour will take the crown prince to Syria, Egypt and Morocco to discuss issues related to Iraq and the implementation of the Middle East peace road map, Prince Saud said.
The Arab trip will be followed by an already scheduled visit to Moscow where he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on bilateral relations, terrorism, and energy.
