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US Not Aware of Saudi Peace Proposal for Iraq - 2003-03-25


The United States says it is not aware of any Saudi Arabian proposal to end the US-led war in Iraq.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters in the Saudi capital earlier on Tuesday that Riyadh had contacted Washington and Baghdad with a peace plan and is waiting for a response. He gave no details, but suggested both sides stop fighting and see what diplomacy could accomplish.

But US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says Washington had not received any proposal from the Saudis. He made clear Washington would not be interested in any diplomacy that includes the current Iraqi leadership.

The Saudi announcement followed a denunciation by Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan of Monday's Arab League resolution condemning what the League termed aggression against Iraq. The league demanded the immediate pull-out of U-S and British forces. Mr. Ramadan said the resolution did not go far enough, suggesting it should have called for a suspension of Arab oil exports to coalition countries.

The 22-member League also called for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Iraq. But Mr. Boucher said today (Tuesday) that the time for cooperative solutions has passed.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of the Syrian capital, shouting angry words at President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Arab leaders who have lent their assistance to the U-S-led war.

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