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| Arabia |
| Closure of Airport For Humanitarian Reasons |
| 2003-03-09 |
| Saudi Arabia Saturday, March 8, denied it has provided a small airport near its border with Iraq as a base for U.S. troops to launch air strikes against Baghdad, and said the closure of the facility to civilian traffic was for purely humanitarian reasons. "Yes, we have closed the Arar airport and moved air traffic to the nearby Jouf province. We have received some technical assistance from the Americans to be able to deal with an expected influx of Iraqi refugees if the war breaks out,â AFP quoted Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz as speaking at a press conference. "The command is Saudi and the friends are there only for humanitarian and technical assistance... preparations are being used for humanitarian purposes." Oh, of course, of course... Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also denied the airport has been closed to civilian flights because U.S. troops were landing there to take part in an anticipated U.S.-led war on Baghdad. Certainly not... Prince Sultan said the kingdom encountered a major refugee problem during the 1991 Gulf War after about "150,000 Iraqi refugees crossed into the kingdom" and now does not want a repetition. âThe assistance from the United States is to help deal with the expected influx of Iraqi refugees and that our action is based on U.N. resolutions to protect the Iraqi people,â he added. Are we setting up POW camps, too? Prince Sultan stressed the military agreements between Riyadh and Washington are not for cooperation regarding war. "We have no agreements with the United States for U.S. aircraft to use our airbases for engagement purposes," he said. Prince Sultan, however, admitted the kingdom has amassed "large numbers of aircraft and land troops" in the northern city of Tabuk, close to the border with Jordan, over fears that Israel may violate Saudi airspace. They do that regularly, y'know... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |