King, Saudi FM discuss Arab anti-terror cooperation

The talks, held at Beit Al Baraka, the King's home, focused on “mechanisms to deal with the terrorist attacks in the United States in addition to the situation in the Palestinian territories,” a Royal Court official said.

“They also discussed means of stepping up coordination between Arab countries in order to forge a common Arab position that would serve Arab interests and causes,” he said.

The meeting likewise centred on efforts to restore calm in the Palestinian territories and reach a “comprehensive and just peace” in the region, the official added.

“Israeli violence and the failure to find a solution to the Palestinian question have given the terrorists pretexts to carry out their operations for so-called noble goals, but this is not the case,” Prince Saud said before leaving Amman.

He said he was convinced that “the essential goal of the terrorist operations is to undermine the Arab and Islamic nations and the Palestinian question and jeopardise their relations with the rest of the world.”

“It is the duty of all Arab countries to take part, according to their capacities, in the international effort to combat terrorism,” Prince Saud said.

He warned, nevertheless, that the influence of “terrorists is present in non-Arab countries” and urged these countries “not to give them cover.”

Prince Saud, who arrived Monday in Amman from Damascus, delivered a message to King Abdullah from Saudi King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz. He briefed the King on his recent talks with US President George W. Bush.

In remarks to the press Prince Saud voiced his country's condemnation of all forms of terrorism and what he termed attempts to blame the Arabs and Muslims for acts of terrorism.

“This is something which we cannot tolerate,” he said.

“Terrorism is directed against Arabs and Muslims as much as it is directed against the Palestinian people's cause, something that would turn the world community against us since by these acts the terrorists are harming the Palestinian cause and therefore they are considered enemies of peace,” Prince Saud said.

His visit to Amman coincided with a decision taken earlier on Tuesday by the Saudi government to sever relations with Afghanistan's Taleban regime for harbouring “terrorists”.

The United States accused the Taleban of sheltering Saudi-born Osama Ben Laden, the prime suspect in the murder of more than 6,000 people in the United States on Sept. 11.