RIYADH, 19 June 2005 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told journalists yesterday in Riyadh that the condition of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd was reassuring and that he would soon leave hospital.

“As for when the king will leave the hospital, that will be determined by medical reports and doctors,” he said, adding, “So far the reports are reassuring and this indicates that we will soon see him out of the hospital.”

In a press conference, the foreign minister said he was aware of what some news agencies had published, accusing Saudi Arabia of possessing nuclear facilities. He said the reports were baseless and confirmed that Saudi Arabia had no nuclear facilities.

Concerning the situation in Iraq, Prince Saud said the Kingdom was following closely the escalation of violence there and the deaths of innocent civilians. “We strongly condemn these criminal acts which aim at planting fear and dissolving national unity among Iraqis,” he said.

“We are also happy to hear of the establishment of the interim Iraqi government and its National Assembly. We are hopeful that this will strengthen national unity by political participation which is the only way to sovereignty, stability, and progress in Iraq,” he noted. The minister said the kingdom would participate in the international conference on Iraq scheduled for June 22 in Brussels.

The foreign minister went on to say that the Kingdom deplored Israel’s policy of procrastination in implementing agreements it signed. He said Israel was using the policy to buy time to build more settlements and to continue its building of what he called, the “racist wall” that has harmed Palestinians and Israelis both socially and economically.

“At the same time, we would like to express our support for the efforts of the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas which call for unity and for providing stability and security to the Palestinian people as well as the call for the continuation of the peace process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.”

About Lebanon, the minister said the Kingdom congratulated the Lebanese people on the success of the parliamentary elections. “We hope these elections will strengthen Lebanese unity and commemorate peace, stability and development there. At the same time, we would like to express our grave concern about the assassinations that have taken place in the country, a matter that could endanger its security and stability and, God forbid, lead to the spread of violence.”

On Saudi detainees in Guantanamo Bay, the minister hoped Washington would take “a speedy and decisive action on this matter”, saying the release of detainees “would be the only way to determine the truth behind who is guilty among civilians and who is not.”

On the question of Saudi detainees in Iraq, he said the Saudi government had asked Baghdad for a complete list of Saudi detainees. “They have promised to give us the list and we are waiting for it.”

He also said that the Kingdom was cooperating with Syria on the security front.