Saudi foreign minister says Iraq attack 'unwise'

LONDON - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said in an interview broadcast today it would be unwise for the international community to try to force Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and install its own replacement.

Prince Saud al-Faisal said in an interview with the BBC that it was up to the Iraqi people to oust Saddam and it was gullible of people to think they knew better than the Iraqis what would be best for their country.

US President George W Bush has named Iraq as part of an "axis of evil" for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction. He has also called for a "regime change" to oust Saddam, possibly through military force.

"Whether Saddam Hussein remains or is removed from power is up to the Iraqi people. It has never been shown in history...that anybody removed from the outside and another person put in instead has made for the stability of the region", he told the BBC in an interview recorded for the World at One radio programme in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

When asked if Saudi Arabia would let the United States use its military bases in the country to launch an operation to overthrow Saddam, Prince Saud did not answer the question, saying instead: "There is a chance for diplomacy to work."

He said his country was anxious about the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq, home to a large Shi'ite Muslim population in the south and a Kurdish minority in the north.

"To put that on one side and consider that irrelevant and say the most important thing about Iraq is the removal of Saddam Hussein, we think is an unwise...decision to make about Iraq."

Bush sought to ease Saudi opposition to any pre-emptive US attack on Iraq on Tuesday, telling Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan the United States would consult allied nations before taking any decision.

Prince Saud also said pressure from the United States on Saddam could strengthen the resolve of ordinary Iraqis.

"If they don't have the option (of choosing their own leader), squeezing them and attacking them will force them into backing their government, rather than for the reverse," the minister said.

"What makes us so gullible as to think we know what is better for the Iraqi people than the Iraqi people themselves?"

Faisal also told the BBC he thought there was still a "very serious" threat from al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's network blamed for the September 11 attacks.

"We expect the worst and work for the worst and this is why we are so active in the pursuit of everything that allows us to find information, provide it to our friends and allies and work together to dissipate any threat and danger," he said.

He said Saudi Arabia had helped stop funds worth between US$70 ($150 million) and US$90 million from reaching al Qaeda in the past few months.

- REUTERS

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