Saudi says it backs US plan to stabilise Iraq

Riyadh, Jan 16: Saudi Arabia said today that Arab countries were ready to back a US plan to stabilise Iraq but insisted that only Iraqis can make it succeed.

''We agree fully with the goals set by the new strategy, which in our view are the goals that, if implemented, would solve the problems that face Iraq,'' Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a joint news conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Riyadh.

''(But) implementation also requires a (positive) response by the Iraqis themselves to these goals... Other countries can help but the main responsibility in taking decisions rests on the Iraqis,'' he added.

Rice, in Saudi Arabia as part of regional tour to drum up support for U S President George W Bush's decision to send more than 20,000 new troops to stabilise Iraq, also said it was up to Iraqis to make the plan a success.

She said she planned to discuss Arab efforts to help Bush's plan succeed at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Cooperation Council members, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, in Kuwait later today.

''We will continue to work with the Iraqi government to make sure networks running dangerous militias are stopped,'' Rice told reporters in Riyadh.

But she also said Iraq had a lot to do to make the plan a success, including exerting serious efforts to pursue a national reconciliation plan announced by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and putting serious efforts to deal with the security situation in the country, especially in the capital Baghdad.

''I want to underscore that the Saudis were very helpful in helping us to think through some of the elements of Iraq. We have the same goal, which is an Iraq unified with its integrity and territory intact which doesn't face outside interference,'' Rice said.

''An Iraq where all Iraqis are treated equally and can depend on the protection of the state without regard to religion or ethnicity,'' she added.

REUTERS

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