Saudi Arabia distances itself from WikiLeaks expose
By IANSWednesday, December 1, 2010
RIYADH - The US cables exposed by WikiLeaks “do not concern the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, an official said after communications showed Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region urging America to attack Iran and destroy its nuclear facilities.
An official source of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “These documents do not concern the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, nor does the Kingdom has any role in drafting them, nor is it aware of their correctness and authenticity. Therefore, Saudi Arabia cannot comment on them.”
“However, the Kingdom’s policies and positions have always been clear and well known,” a press release issued by Saudi Press Agency quoted the official source as saying.
The leaked documents state that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was recorded as having “frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons programme”.
“He told you (Americans) to cut off the head of the snake,” the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir said, according to a report on Abdullah’s meeting with the US general David Petraeus in April 2008.
King Abdullah warned the Americans that if Iran developed nuclear weapons “everyone in the region would do the same, including Saudi Arabia”.
