RIYADH, 29 January — The Saudi and Egyptian leaders discussed an Iraqi offer for reconciliation with the Kingdom and Kuwait in Riyadh on Saturday, Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported yesterday quoting Arab sources. "Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was carrying an Iraqi offer ... to bring the views of Baghdad, Riyadh and Kuwait closer," the sources told the Arabic newspaper.
Interior Minister Prince Naif while talking to reporters here yesterday did not deny the report but said the leaders must have discussed the Iraqi issue. "It was an open discussion and must have covered all Arab issues. Iraq is part of the Arab world and they must have discussed the Iraqi situation," he said when asked about Egyptian mediation for Saudi-Iraqi reconciliation.
The paper said that the reconciliation offer was made by Iraq's First Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan when he visited Cairo recently. The Iraqi leader had requested Egypt to play a role to narrow the differences between his country and its two Gulf neighbors. But the sources did not mention anything on the Saudi response to the offer.
Prince Naif said Saturday's meeting between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would have tremendous impact on relations at bilateral and Arab levels.
Mubarak met the king and the crown prince at a royal rest house in the Thumama region, 65 km northeast of the capital. There was no official statement on what the two sides had discussed during the two-hour meeting. But informed sources said the visit was also aimed at coordination between the two countries ahead of the next Arab summit in Amman scheduled to take place in March.
Referring to the meeting of the Arab Interior Ministers' Council which is to start in Tunis today, Prince Naif said the Council would discuss a number of security issues. However, he pointed out that Riyadh would not raise the issue of extradition of the two Saudi hijackers in Baghdad. "We have notified the Arab League and the Interpol about it. I think it is enough and the issue will not be discussed at the Council meeting," he said.
Prince Naif is the honorary chairman of the Council, one of the most successful bodies of the Arab League. He said there was no plan to meet Iraq's interior minister on the sidelines of the three-day Tunis meeting. Prince Naif left for Tunis yesterday at the head of a high-level delegation to attend the Council meeting.
