The
inaugural session of the US-Saudi Arabia Strategic Dialogue was
held today in Saudi Arabia between delegations led by US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al
Faisal. The dialogue, a product of the summit between
President George Bush and King, then Crown Prince, Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz, at the Western White House, Crawford,
Texas in April 2005, provided an opportunity for high level
review of strategic issues of vital importance to the two
countries.
The
first session of the dialogue was summarized during a press
availability which we are pleased to provide to you here.
Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia
November 13, 2005
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: I'd like to welcome U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and your distinguished delegation to the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia today. Today, we have convened the first Strategic
Dialogue between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was agreed on
by the Custodian of the Holy Sites, President King Abd al-Aziz,
and President Bush during their meeting April 25th in order to
enhance the historic ties between the two countries for over six
decades. And it was described by the new leaders as the new era
that will witness the development of the historic relationship in
order to face the challenges that we are facing as well as the
opportunities that exist for the future relationship between the
two states.
The
Strategic Dialogue is designed in order to institutionalize the
relationship between the two states, between the two countries.
These dialogues are conducted through senior officials to discuss
a variety of strategic issues and political issues -- security,
financial, economic, cultural and social and other matters --
especially in light of the challenges that we both face at the
same time and through the threat of terrorism and the
misconceptions that exist among people on both sides, as well as
the continuous crisis that face the region in the Middle East that
would require a great deal of work in order to face and confront
through exchanging of views and create more points of views and
coordination and joint understanding to allow the institutions on
both sides to work jointly.
Here I
would like to say that the Strategic Dialogue is considered as a
continuation to the mechanisms of coordination between the two
states and establishes a new mechanism under the umbrella of
strategic dialogue. This is what was discussed today. We have
discussed the various structures for the dialogue and objectives
and the responsibilities in a way that meets the challenges of the
period that we face and it is important for these structures to be
flexible enough to deal with a variety of issues under the
specific mandates.
We are
confident that the joint will, the sincere will and the hard work
will achieve the intended objectives of the Strategic Dialogue,
with God's help and support, and it will help to put a new
cornerstone to the achievements that we have already achieved over
the past six years and we will look forward to achieve our mutual
goals and objectives.
I will
give the floor to Secretary Rice.
SECRETARY
RICE: Thank you very much, Minister, Royal Highness. We've
just had, as the Minister has said, a very wide-ranging
discussion. We've launched our Strategic Dialogue, the
dialogue that was envisioned by the President and then Crown
Prince, now King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah. The Strategic
Dialogue will allow us to, in a more systematic and
institutionalized fashion, have regular discussions about a number
of issues of interest to us. And this is described in the joint
statement so I will not go further in that regard.
We have
also had discussions of the broad strategic interests that we hold
together in fighting terrorism, in bringing about stability in the
post-conflict areas of Afghanistan, Iraq, and of course we have
talked about our partnership in the Core Group for Lebanon. We
have had discussions of our economic relations, and I want to just
say that we welcome Saudi Arabia into the World
Trade Organization, congratulate Saudi Arabia on its
accession, and look forward to the post World Trade Organization
[accession] period in which we will be able to work even more
closely on economic issues.
We also
have had an opportunity to discuss, as we always do, the course of
reform that Saudi Arabia has set out on. I just want to note that,
of course, the President has said to King Abdullah, I've said to
the Minister and we believe deeply, that this is reform that is
being done for the Saudi people by the Saudi leadership; it is a
matter of indigenous reform, but it has been a very good
discussion of what is going forward and I look forward to
continuing those discussions.
Finally,
let me thank Prince Saud for being the first to wish me Happy
Birthday, with a very nice cake. It's a day early, which when
you're as old as I am you count every day and try not to get there
early, but I really do appreciate it. Thank you very much. And I
think now we'll take questions.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: May I just say here I am delighted to say how
much we appreciate the position the United States has taken about
the entrance to the WTO for Saudi Arabia. Their help was
instrumental in this decision that was taken a couple of days ago,
so our thanks again, Madame Secretary.
And may
I also say that either a statement has been distributed to you or
will be distributed to you about the meeting between us.
QUESTION:
Hello, Madame Secretary. With the President Bush approval
ratings at an all-time low and the American people having doubts
about progress of the war in Iraq, does the U.S. have an exit
strategy out of Iraq and when does it expect to start pulling out
its troops from Saudi Arabia?
SECRETARY
RICE: Thank you very much for the question. The President,
when he, with the coalition, decided that it was time to enforce
the just demands of the world on Saddam Hussein and to remove this
threat from the region and then ultimately to give the Iraqi
people an opportunity to build a more democratic future,
recognized that this would entail sacrifice and that it would not
be an easy road ahead. The United States therefore remains
committed to the goals that were set out, which is to take a
situation in which tyranny existed and to help the Iraqi people to
build a democratic future on the ruins of that tyranny.
Our
strategy is one for success and we don't talk in terms of exit
strategies. We talk in terms of success strategies. And that means
that we are supportive of the political process that is underway
in Iraq to bring about an Iraq that is for all Iraqis. And I want
to thank the Saudi Government for its support of a political
process in Iraq that would be inclusive so that all of Iraq's
groups might feel that their future is with this new Iraq.
I'd
note, too, that the political process is well underway. There have
been two elections and there will be a third in December. And the
Iraqi people -- I was just there -- appear very committed to that
process.
It is
also the case that we are helping to build Iraqi security forces
because the best outcome will be when Iraqis can secure
themselves. But the multinational forces are there under a UN
mandate and they are there because they are needed. They are there
because the Iraqis are facing down terrorists who seem only to
want to kill innocent Iraqis in the service of whatever cause it
is that they're espousing. And they are, by the way, many of the
same people who wish to cause harm to populations here in Riyadh
or in London or, for that matter, in New York or Washington.
I do
believe that the United States and others will not need to keep
forces of the size that we have there because the Iraqis are going
to step up and are stepping up to their responsibilities. But any
decisions about our troop strength will be on recommendation from
the commanders on the ground and will be a result of the
conditions on the ground.
QUESTION:
Sue Pleming from Reuters. Your Highness, are you still
concerned that policies in Iraq will lead to its disintegration?
And Madame Secretary, did you get adequate assurances that Saudi
Arabia will follow through on its assurances to give $1 billion
for Iraq reconstruction?
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: Well, I can give the assurance .. that we will
remain committed .. for the efforts of Saudi Arabia in Iraq. We
are working within the Arab League and the work is work that goes
along in helping the process that is going on to achieve its
objective. After all, the political process, whatever it is,
without common understanding between the factions in Iraq, would
be limited and would threaten the unity of the country.
Now
that that step has been taken, my fears which I have expressed
earlier are much more eased today than they were at the time
that I expressed them.
SECRETARY
RICE: Were you -- did you have trouble hearing? More eased? Is
that what you were saying?
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: No, she was asking --
SECRETARY
RICE: No, I had trouble hearing the very end, I think.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: More eased.
SECRETARY
RICE: Right, okay. Thank you.
Yes,
you just got the assurance and I believe strongly that Saudi
Arabia will fulfill that commitment. And let me just say that what
happens in Iraq, of course, is a concern to both of us. This is
not the United States trying to [encourage] Saudi Arabia to be
concerned about Iraq or about the future of Iraq. Saudi Arabia has
had to live with the threat of Saddam Hussein in the past, and of
course because of that threat was a very strong coalition partner
in the Gulf War in 1991. It just shows how close Iraq is to Saudi
Arabia. And so we understand that the future of Iraq is of very
deep concern to Saudi Arabia.
But we
are in very good discussions with each other but also with the
Iraqis about (inaudible) that that future will be a bright one.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: Must be nervous.
SECRETARY
RICE: Yes. Well, somebody doesn't want to hear it. (Laughter.)
QUESTION:
Secretary of State, Happy Birthday, first of all.
SECRETARY
RICE: Thank you.
QUESTION:
My question is, during your visit to Iraq and again here you
are talking or expressing your hope that Saudi Arabia play a role
in Iraq actually in convincing the Sunni Arabs to participate in
the coming election. But we hear from time to time from some Iraqi
officials, especially the majority Shiite Iraqi in the ruling
party, that they don't welcome such a role to be played by any
neighboring country.
So my
question is what the Government of America did to convince those
parties that the role that Saudi Arabia might play is a positive
role and that it's not interference in their internal affairs,
especially that Saudi Arabia succeeded in bringing together the
different parties in Lebanon during the Cedar war.
SECRETARY
RICE: Yes, thank you. You make a very important point. All of
us -- Saudi Arabia, the United States, other -- and the neighbors
-- need to be engaged with the Iraqis and encouraging the Iraqis
toward a political process that is inclusive. But it is, of
course, an Iraqi process, and if the Iraqis themselves are not the
owners of that process, it will never work.
That is
why it is a good thing that there are meetings, perhaps even an
Arab League meeting, that there have been interactions at Sharm
el-Sheikh with the Iraqis, about how to encourage people to
participate. But when it comes right down to it, it has to be the
Iraqis that embrace each other.
The
remarkable thing to me is that despite the years of tyranny,
despite the fact that these groups have existed side by side and
that Saddam Hussein exacerbated tensions between them with a small
minority oppressing the large majority of the people -- and I
might add, Sunnis also suffered under Saddam Hussein. It was not
just Shia and Kurds. It was also many Sunnis who did. Despite
that, now that they are trying to solve their problems by politics
and compromise rather than by force and coercion; they seem to be
to be showing an incredible willingness to try and overcome their
differences through political institutions.
If you
look at the constitution when it was first drafted, it was not a
constitution that most Sunnis believed expressed their interests.
Changes were made practically right up until the last moment to
try to encourage that. But perhaps the most important change that
was made was that there was an agreement -- or the most important
aspect of the constitution is that there was an agreement that
many of the important decisions about what laws would govern, for
instance, federalism, were put off to the next national assembly,
and the next national assembly will be more representative because
Sunnis are now engaged in the political process.
So I
think we ought to express confidence in the Iraqi people because
they are demonstrating that they are prepared to have an inclusive
and very good process, political process, to overcome their
history of violence, and also because they are paying with their
lives to be a part of this political process. In January the
terrorists threatened them and 8.5 million of them voted. In
December -- sorry, in October the terrorists threatened them and
almost 10 million of them voted. And so the Iraqi people deserve
our confidence and deserve our admiration for how they are trying
to overcome this long history that they have.
Peter.
I think Peter -- we'll come back to you. Peter.
QUESTION:
Thank you. Peter Mackler, Agence France Presse. Madame Secretary,
can you give us your reaction to yesterday's meeting in Bahrain?
Are you disappointed that it broke up without the adoption of a
declaration?
And
Your Highness, it has been said that sometimes that the Saudis are
less than enthusiastic supporters of the U.S. democracy agenda. So
to that end, can I ask you, the municipal councils that are
supposed to be the most visible sign of your democratic progress
have yet to meet. When will they meet? And have you had a chance
to read the Secretary's speech on democracy of several months ago?
SECRETARY
RICE: Oh, all right, I'll start. First of all, I thought the
meeting yesterday was terrific and the Foreign Minister was there.
He can speak to it. I thought it was remarkable that we sat in
this room together, talked in detail about human potential, talked
about how to enhance political participation, how to enhance the
empowerment of women. We had civil society with us, which has been
an -- was an unusual development here in this region. Civil
society groups from all over the region were there.
We
established the Fund for the Future which will help
entrepreneurship and business, but perhaps most importantly we
produced the Foundation for the Future. And that is a foundation
to which Arab states and Western states have contributed alike.
It's the first institution really of the Broader
Middle East Initiative and it will help to fund small projects
by nongovernmental organizations.
Now let
me speak directly to the issue of the declaration. These are hard
issues. People actually care what this declaration says. And in
the eleventh hour, at the very end, there were -- there was a
concern -- it really boiled down to a concern -- about language
concerning the NGOs and their status, legal status, in various
countries. And rather than have ambiguous language, we decided not
to have the declaration. I think it was done actually in a way
that was legitimate and democratic, if you will, given the
circumstances.
But I
have to say I was really quite surprised when I read this morning
that somehow a forum that produced this kind of interaction, that
produced a Fund and a Foundation, that produced a commitment to
continue this dialogue, that is taking place in a context of a
Middle East that is changing dramatically, with a democratizing
Iraq, with a democratizing Afghanistan, Syrian forces out of
Lebanon through international cooperation and, by the way, the
cooperation of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where Saudi Arabia has had
municipal elections, where in Kuwait women have the right to vote,
and we could never have imagined that two years ago, I find that
we didn't have a declaration because of one point, to have been a
minor issue here and one that by no means undermined the
importance of the meeting and what has been achieved.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: As you can see from the subject matter of the
conferences that the Secretary explained how delicate many of the
issues that were discussed are. And indeed, if there is anything
surprising it's the high level of attendance to the conference and
the high level of representation in the conference. So I wouldn't
define that as failure of the conference. I think it is to the
credit of the United States that instead of pushing for a
statement that has some reservations by some countries, it waited
for a future meeting to adjust whatever differences that exist.
All in
all, I think the United States came out very well in its position
from this conference and I think the conference was able to
discuss many sensitive issues in a spirit of understanding, and
the common ground between the countries has expanded rather than
shrunk. And so I wouldn't call it by any means a failure.
As to
the elections, I think they will meet on the scheduled time after
the end of the elections. I don't know the exact date, but they
will certainly meet for the municipal elections.
QUESTION:
I will go to the backbone of the Saudi-American relationship. It
is noticeable that the American administrations always discuss
Saudi-American relations saying it's solid and strong, but there
are many attempts by various Jewish lobbies to affect the
U.S.-Saudi relations, including the potential discussions in the
Congress about Saudi Accountability Act. Does the State Department
see a contradiction in these efforts as far as how international
relations are conducted?
Also
the other issue is the latest terrorist acts in Amman, Jordan.
Does that encourage you to establish an international center, as
the King of Saudi Arabia proposed early on, to combat terror?
SECRETARY
RICE: I'm sorry, an international center?
First
of all, there are many voices in the United States and they speak
out about their views of our relationships around the world. And
this is true not just for the U.S.-Saudi relationship, but for any
relationship that you can name there are many voices about the
course of that relationship and about how it is going.
The
fact is that the Administration views the relationship as one that
is strong and broad and where we have many, many common interests
and where we are acting on those common interests.
It is
no secret that we have had to intensify our efforts on a number of
fronts, particularly, for instance, concerning terrorism,
terrorism financing. The questions about charitable organizations
and what role they might have played without the knowledge of
governments on the financing of terrorism has been a concern not
just to us but to the Saudi Government. And I might note that we
didn't have a very good understanding of this inside the United
States until after September 11th as well. And so yes, we've had
to intensify our efforts on terrorist financing and we believe
that we've made progress, but there is always more progress that
can be made.
We also
have made clear that we would hope that the Saudi Government will
do more on issues of incitement, issues of the way that there is a
portrayal of countries around the world, sometimes a portrayal of
the United States, sometimes a portrayal of Israel. We've made
that very clear.
But
there is sometimes an underlying sense that if there are issues in
a relationship then you don't have a good relationship. Well,
there are issues in almost every relationship that we have around
the world. The key is to be able to address those issues honestly,
to be able to address differences honestly and to have mechanisms
in which to address both that which is common and that which is
not common.
That is
one reason that we thought the Strategic Dialogue, which now has
six working groups that can get to know each other and go into
issues in more detail, is an important innovation.
And as
to the Zarqawi terrorism, while it does reinforce our desire and
our will to fight terrorism, I think we have very good cooperation
and we're always open to ideas on how more cooperation can be
brought to bear on the problem.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: (Inaudible) say one thing about this question.
There is no doubt that there is at least misunderstanding
regarding the public opinion in the United States about the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There is also misunderstanding within the
public opinion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about the United
States. Both of us believe that policies that combine between two
countries that it's not based on deep understanding among the
publics on both sides must create some problems sometimes.
Therefore
we and the United States are working very harder to affect the
public opinion on both sides in order to explain the policies of
mutual interest and also clarify the views of the public opinion
on both sides. In addition to what we have done today in
establishing this new mechanism, I believe that will play a major
role in improving the public opinions' point of view on both
countries to meet the mutual understanding and interests.
SECRETARY
RICE: Steve.
QUESTION:
Thank you. Steve Weisman with the New York Times. Your
Highness and Madame Secretary, Prince Turki, the new Ambassador to
the United States, gave an interesting speech recently, saying
that the main political reason for terrorism and the anger among
some is the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He also suggested that the Bush Administration could be more
even-handed in its approach.
Your
Highness, I wonder if you could expand on that point and tell us
if you discussed that today. And Madame Secretary, of course, if
you could respond to what seemed to be a criticism. Thank you.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: I don't hold myself responsible always for what
the new Ambassador in Washington says -- (laughter) -- but in this
case I do agree to a great extent. Certainly, the continuation of
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict helps in giving -- allowing the
terrorists to justify their actions in the eyes of some young
people who are not of full knowledge of the situation and who are
still in the formative years of their development.
Terrorism
of that sort cannot be condoned under any circumstances, but it
does give justification and it allows their recruitment. And in
that tract alone, it behooves us to do everything we can to remove
that, and because getting rid of terrorism not only means fighting
them and not allowing financing to go to them, but to stop
recruitment, or it will be a never-ending cycle. And that is why
we say what we say in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli question,
just as a fact of life to us.
SECRETARY
RICE: Well, I appreciate very much what the Foreign Minister
has just said. There are obviously people who try to use the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict to justify their acts against
innocent civilians. There are those who try to do it within the
Palestinian territories. I think what the Palestinians themselves
have said is that, in fact, there is not that justification
because they want a peaceful course for the development, and those
who are using violence are, in fact, doing nothing but frustrating
the hopes and the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a
peaceful life side by side with the Israelis. But the people use
it as an excuse, people have used it as an excuse; the good thing
is the world is now saying, as the Minister has just said, there
isn't a justification for the killing of innocents.
Now let
me make just one other point about the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. It ought to be resolved because Palestinians deserve a
better life and Israelis deserve a better life. That's why it
ought to be resolved. And that's why we are working as hard as we
can to try and build on what has happened with the disengagement
of Israeli forces and Israeli settlements from Gaza. That's why we
believe that the roadmap is a reliable guide to a two-state
solution. That is why we press both parties to live up to their
obligations under that roadmap, because the Middle East will most
certainly be a much better place when there is a Palestinian
state, a democratic Palestinian state living side by side in peace
with Israel. It will be a better place for the Palestinians, it
will be a better place for the Israelis, and it will be a better
place for their neighbors as well.
We are
encouraging the others -- we remember fondly that Crown Prince
Abdullah talked about a way forward. Some of the elements of that
were incorporated into a statement to which Saudi Arabia was a
party at the time of the Sharm el-Sheikh meetings with President
Bush in 2003. Questions like the need to end incitement, questions
like the need to reach out and try to find ways of engagement with
Israel -- all of these issues are very important and everybody has
their part to play. But we agree completely that the resolution of
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is of the highest priority, one
of the highest priorities that we have, because people should not
have to live in the conditions of terror, hopelessness, lack of
economic and development that the Palestinians do, or in the
conditions of fear that the Israelis do.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: And may I add that Saudi Arabia's position
cannot be better defined than it was defined by the proposal that
Kind Fahd himself had placed in the Arab Summit in Lebanon, and so
that describes not only our interest in peace but our willingness
to work that peace, towards that peace, and the peace that allows
both the Israelis and the Arabs to live a better life than they
have in the past.
We will
take two more questions.
QUESTION:
I have two questions, one for His Royal Highness and for your,
Madame.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: You're taking both questions? (Laughter.)
QUESTION:
It's very short. Madame Secretary, in fact, how much you are
convinced that the Syrians very genuinely wants to cooperate with
the international investigation since President Bashar says that
whatever they will do, they are not going to convince the American
Administration?
And I
would like to ask His Highness, His Royal Highness, the Crown
Prince, will be visiting Egypt soon. What is the importance of the
visit?
SECRETARY
RICE: Well, I think we have to say that the Syrians have not
yet showed the full desire to cooperate. There seems to be some
desire to negotiate with Mr. Mehlis instead of saying yes to his
requests. But one way or another, I hope that Syria is going to
cooperate. It is the demand of the international community that
they do.
We need
to know who was involved in the murder of Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri. We need to know the degree to which some of the very
disturbing findings that Mr. Mehlis had in his interim report are
indeed the case once he has finished the investigation, because
these are very serious charges.
And I
believe that the entire international community, represented in
the 15-0 vote by the UN Security Council, is telling Syria that it
is indeed time to cooperate. And so I have not seen it yet. What
I've seen is, so far, a lot of criticism of the process and a lot
of criticism of the investigation. That just isn't going to --
it's not going to cut it. The situation is very clear. The 15-0
vote could not have been clearer. And I know that people are
delivering the message to Syria that it indeed ought to cooperate.
I think
he asked you about the King's visit to Cairo.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: You have a better memory than I. (Laughter.)
Yes,
the Crown Prince is visiting Cairo and I am sure the discussions
will range and discuss most of the issues that face the region and
bilateral relations between both countries. So the subject, I am
sure, will crop up and they will discuss it.
QUESTION:
Your Highness, in the United States it is still widely thought
or suggested that the Saudis are not "serious" about the
war on terrorism. One of the issues has been raised in this press
conference that there is still too much incitement, anti-U.S.
incitement, anti-Israel incitement, in this country. So may we
know your response on that, please? Is your government serious
about the war on terrorism?
And
Madame Secretary, same question: Do you think the Saudis are?
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: I suggest that the media has a lot to do with
that impression. And you are here. Visit the country and see
whether we're serious about fighting terror or not. Our people are
being killed. Our resources are being squandered on terrorist
activity. We are fighting as hard as we can. We have made
incitement a crime, not just an ordinary thing that should be
sanctioned. And we have made programs for education, for public
opinion, about terror, the causes of it, the results of it. Our
ulema have spoken clearly against terror and the incitement
against terror, but yet we only hear the talk of some unknown
sheikh in one of the mosques and we leave alone the word of the
main religious people in Saudi Arabia and not report on it.
So
whatever we do, it seems that we are lacking in our efforts. But I
would dare anybody to say that there is any other country that is
fighting terror as hard as Saudi Arabia is. And I do wish you
would come not within a visit like this but come and see and take
for yourself what we are doing.
SECRETARY
RICE: The reason that countries and leaders are fighting
terrorism is not to please us. It's not to please the United
States. It's because their own people are dying from these
terrorists. It is because the region is suffering a sense of
instability and a sense of insecurity from these terrorists. It is
because no one wants to contemplate a future in which the
aspirations of the people are being met by strapping on suicide
bombs and killing innocents.
We're
united in this fight. The people who are isolated are people like
Zarqawi and bin Laden and his people. Because when you go around
the world and you talk to governments, many of which now have
experienced terrorism -- Riyadh has experienced terrorism. Right
here in Jeddah there was an attack against our Consulate in which
Saudi security forces died. The al-Qaida network here has been
pursued and pursued actively to the point that I think some more
than 20 -- it may be 25 or 26 top leaders have been captured or
killed. The Saudis are working on financing. Of course, they can
do more, we can do more, on the terrorist financing side.
But I
think we make a mistake if we somehow believe that people don't
want to fight terrorism. They do want to fight terrorism.
Terrorism is a scourge. It is a threat to us all. It's a threat to
civilized people everywhere when a suicide bomber walks into a
Palestinian wedding in Jordan and kills 17 people. It's a threat
to us all when, in Beslan, Russia hundreds of Russian children and
school teachers are killed by terrorists who decided to take over
a school. It's a threat to us all when people fly airplanes into
the Twin Towers and into the Pentagon on a fine September day.
So
we're united in this fight. This took a long time to develop --
these terrorist networks -- and it's going to take a while to
break them down. But both because we are pursuing them actively as
a law enforcement and intelligence matter and pursuing them in
cooperation, we're having some successes, and because I think
everybody is beginning to understand that the real permanent
solution has got to be to develop within countries circumstances
in which human potential can be reached and in which people really
do feel that their aspirations can be met in a positive way and
not be driven to these extremes.
And so
I want to thank the Saudi Government for its cooperation in the
war on terrorism. I am certain that the Saudi Government can do
better. I am certain that all of us can do better. But there is, I
believe, no lack of will.
FOREIGN
MINISTER SAUD: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Source:
US State Dept.
-
Joint Statement by
President Bush and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah - Crawford,
Texas - April 25, 2005 - SUSRIS
-
Secretary
Rice, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal Meet the Press - Joint
Press Availability Secretary Condoleezza Rice With Saudi
Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - June
20, 2005
SUSRIS
IOI - June 21, 2005
-
Overcoming
Mutual Apprehensions: Prince Saud Al Faisal on Relations with
the West - The Saudi-British Forum, London - February 23, 2005
- SUSRIS
IOI - March 19, 2005
-
Prince Saud Al
Faisal, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia -
SUSRIS
IOI - May 7, 2004
-
Examining
the Relationship - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud
al-Faisal - Remarks to the Foreign Policy Association and
US-Saudi Business Council - April 26, 2004
SUSRIS
IOI - April 28, 2004
-
On
Relations and Reforms: Secretary of State Colin Powell and
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal - Riyadh
SUSRIS
IOI - March 24, 2004
-
Saudi
Officials Take on Challenges in the Media - Prince Saud
Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal Respond to Charges
SUSRIS
IOI - Sep 12, 2003
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