RIYADH, 20 March 2006 — Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday that the war on terror was far from over. Answering a question after his meeting with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, the prince said: “The Kingdom is in a state of war with these people (terrorists). There will be no end to terrorism unless its roots are starved.”

Naif said that new Al-Qaeda leaders in the Kingdom might possibly appear following the death of Al-Qaeda leader Fahd Al-Joweir who was killed by security officers in Riyadh earlier this month.

The interior minister said he had briefed the Austrian president on the security situation and the Kingdom’s policy regarding security matters. “We informed him of the Kingdom’s willingness to cooperate with Austria in the fight against terror and also to join the global war on terror.”

Earlier, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said he hoped Iran would follow the initiative of other countries in the region by pledging to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.

“That is the road to stability,” commented the prince.

“But the international community should not weigh the issue with two measures, allowing Israel to hold weapons of mass destruction, because it is Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons that will drive the region into a nuclear arms race,” Saud said.

He said the Kingdom established its relations with other countries on the basis of “mutual interests.”

The foreign minister said that the visit by the Austrian president strengthened relations between Riyadh and Vienna which he described as “friendly.” He added: “The aim of this visit is to continue to exchange points of views on regional and international issues.”

Speaking to reporters after talks with Fischer, the foreign minister said the Kingdom would continue to provide financial aid to the Palestinians under a government led by Hamas despite US-led efforts to starve it of funds.

“The Kingdom invariably supports the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian government,” Saud said.

The fact that “Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, which were conducted in compliance with European and international demands, will not make us halt our financial and material aid to the Palestinian government and people,” he said.

He said the Palestinian people’s choice must be respected and the new government should not be prejudged.

“Humanitarian assistance is not given to a government. It is given to a people to help them deal with the difficult humanitarian situation brought about by Israeli occupation and siege,” Saud said.

The Kingdom and Austria signed an agreement yesterday to avoid double taxation. The agreement was signed by Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf and the Austrian Minister of Defense Guenther Platter.

This is the second agreement signed by the Kingdom to avoid double taxation with a country in the European Union. Earlier the Kingdom signed agreements to avoid double taxation with China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan which King Abdullah visited in February.

“The agreement is in line with the agreement to protect investments in the two countries signed between Austria and the Kingdom in 2001,” Al-Assaf said. “Furthermore, the agreement aims at helping investors in both countries to enter into joint investment opportunities,” he added.

Al-Assaf called on businessmen in both countries to seize the opportunity and begin exploring areas for joint investment. “The volume of trade between the Kingdom and Austria continues to grow rapidly. It increased from SR643 million in 2002 to SR2 billion in 2004,” the minister pointed out. He said the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Austria in 2004 when he was crown prince had contributed to the strong relations between the two countries.

— Additional input from agencies