WASHINGTON, 10 September — US Secretary of State Colin Powell has highlighted the decades-long strong relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
“There is no crisis in Saudi-US ties,” he said in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.
Powell also said he considered the ouster of Saddam Hussein from power as a victory for the people of the region and Iraq.
The US’s top diplomat reiterated that Iraq would remain united.
He said there was no evidence to link Baghdad’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks.
He reiterated that the US-led war on terrorism was not targeting Islam or Arabs or Muslims.
“The United States admits that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and that the perpetrators of the Sept.
11 attacks were terrorists who do not represent Islam,” he said.
“The United States has fought three wars alongside Muslims during the past 12 years,” he pointed out.
Referring to the Saudi-US ties, the secretary of state said: “There is no crisis in our relations but discussions always take place in free and open societies like ours, especially on cooperation,” he said.
“The differences in systems and cultures offer opportunities for discussion and debate.
These discussions are reasonable and held in the US in a relaxed atmosphere and I don’t think it would lead to any crisis,” he said.
