SAUDI ARABIA: U.S. Secretary of State calls on Saudi Arabia to do more to suppport to Lebanon and Iraq

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who began her trip of the Middle East in Saudi Arabia, said on Tuesday (October 3) that it was in the interests of Saudi Arabia to do more to help stabilize Iraq and Lebanon. "We have talked also about the need to support the young states of Lebanon and Iraq. Young democracies that are under considerable pressure. Lebanon in particular after the war, to support reconstruction, to support the re-arming, reform of the armed forces which now are being used to extend Lebanese authority throughout the country," Rice said at a news conference in Jeddah. Rice said she planned during her trip to talk to U.S. allies in the region about how they can assist the Iraqi and Lebanese governments as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The immediate problem is to find a political solution by which Hamas, which was elected and we recognise that but has been unable to deliver for the Palestinian people because it has been unable to join the consensus including the consensus in the Arab world, that the route to a better life for the Palestinian people is through the roadmap, the Arab initiative and through a two state solution," Rice said. Rice's trip to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories is her first journey to the region since a July visit at height of the war between Israel and Hizbollah militants in Lebanon. During the trip, she plans to have a group meeting with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Cooperation Council states -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

ITN Source | October 3, 2006

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