RIYADH, 6 April 2003 — A top dairy company has turned down an offer to supply coalition forces fighting in Iraq amid reports that Saudi transport firms have rejected 40 potential contracts with US-led troops.
Al-Safi Dairy Co., a subsidiary of Al-Faisaliah Group, said yesterday it would not support the war in any way.
“We believe in the importance of peaceful solutions, in keeping the danger of war and its misery away from this region,” said Prince Muhammad ibn Khaled Al-Faisal, head of Al-Faisaliah, the 16th largest group in the Kingdom.
“The company has refused a request by a company responsible for supply of provisions to the coalition forces because this contradicts the company’s humanitarian policies,” Prince Muhammad said in a statement.
The company did not specify the nature of the contract or its value. Al-Safi has the world’s largest integrated dairy farm with some 32,000 cows and produces various types of dairy products and juices.
Transport firms in the Eastern Province have turned down offers and canceled at least 40 contracts to rent their trucks for US-British forces. The offers were made by Kuwaiti intermediaries to transport unspecified material through the Kuwaiti-Iraqi borders.
