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Saudi rebuffs Iraqi accusation over insurgency
[Al Arabiya Latest] Saudi Arabia rejected charges by the Iraqi government that the kingdom was allowing Saudis to join Iraq's Sunni insurgency, a newspaper reported on Saturday.In comments that underscored the chilly relations between the two neighbors, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said Baghdad was not doing enough to control its own borders and that Iraqis were sneaking into Saudi Arabia, Saudi daily newspaper al-Watan reported. "The Iraqi government knows where the (foreign) fighters come from," said Prince Nayef, denying claims that Saudis are infiltrating into Iraq. Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, editor-in-chief of al-Watan, told Al Arabiya TV that Prince Nayef was referring to Iran and Syria as the prime sources of foreign insurgency into Iraq and that Iraqi government refuses to address these countries because it does not care about the interests of Iraqis as a whole. "The kingdom does what is in the best interest of Iraq and its people and the return of Iraq to its unity and sovereignty," Prince Nayef said. He urged Iraq to improve border security to prevent the infiltration of Iraqis into Saudi Arabia. Main impediment Saudi officials say the security situation in Iraq has been the main impediment to reciprocating Iraqi moves towards resuming full diplomatic ties, broken after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. But analysts say that Riyadh sees the current Iraqi leadership as being under the influence of Iran. Khashoggi said the Saudi government has a particular stand on the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He said Saudi Arabia wants to deal with an Iraqi prime minister who cares about the interests of all Iraqis, not a particular group only. "The kingdom wants only the good and stability for Iraq, in all aspects, but if there is someone in Iraq working against its interest and expecting the kingdom to support him, this will not happen," the newspaper quoted Prince Nayef as saying. "The kingdom would not allow any harm against Iraq's government and people." Posted by: Fred 2009-05-31 |
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