1998 News Story
 
12/31/1998
Prince Sultan holds press conference
Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General Prince Sultan Ibn Abdulaziz yesterday chaired the 22nd meeting of the Committee for the King Faisal International Prize for the Service to Islam. In a subsequent meeting with the press, Prince Sultan responded to a number of questions. Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General Prince Sultan Ibn Abdulaziz yesterday chaired the 22nd meeting of the Committee for the King Faisal International Prize for the Service to Islam. In a subsequent meeting with the press, Prince Sultan responded to a number of questions. Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General Prince Sultan Ibn Abdulaziz yesterday chaired the 22nd meeting of the Committee for the King Faisal International Prize for the Service to Islam. In a subsequent meeting with the press, Prince Sultan responded to a number of questions.

On current economic circumstances, Prince Sultan affirmed that Saudi citizens are fully satisfied and confident about what is being done by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, his Crown Prince and the government, saying: “We are part of the global economic circumstances, but, thank God, we are still preserving the dignity of the Saudi people and their prosperity, as well as the Kingdom's infrastructure.”
Asked to comment on the Kingdom's stand on the repeated calls to convene an extraordinary Arab Summit, Prince Sultan said: “Some people are trying to create an impression that the Kingdom is hesitating over holding the Arab Summit which is not true. ….. What we desire is a summit meeting with an agenda that can be studied on the right basis and a major factor for the service of Arab and Islamic countries.”

In reply to another question as to whether the Kingdom will allow, in the future, its land for use by the Americans if asked to do so in order to strike Iraq, Prince Sultan said, “First of all, we have not been asked and we will not agree on this.”
Asked to comment on the Kingdom's stand on the current Iraqi escalation and if it threatens the region and creates dangers, Prince Sultan replied that he believed that there is no escalation. “If there is any misunderstanding, we pray to God, that our Iraqi brothers will realize their interests. We desire from our friends that they should also look towards the benefits of Iraq and what they should do,” he added. As for calls from Arab states to lift the economic embargo on Iraq, Prince Sultan said, “We are all calling for preserving the Iraqi people. But, we also call on the Iraqi rulers to implement the Security Council's resolutions to serve their country and their Arab brothers.”
Regarding border issues with Yemen, Prince Sultan said that love, faith and fruitful cooperation prevails in current meetings on the border issues between the leaders and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
In reply to a question on the timing of his expected visit to Iran, Prince Sultan said that the date of the visit is still not determined, but he expressed hope that he will meet his brothers in Iran at a suitable time.

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