Prince Nayef: No splits inside Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia-USA, Politics, 10/31/2002

Saudi Arabia's minister of the interior, Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, yesterday stressed that there are no splits inside Saudi Arabia.

He simultaneously reiterated that the attacks of September 11 did not affect the volume of religious influence in Saudi Arabia.

Meantime, the Saudi minister of finance Ibrahim al-Assaf denied that the US has taken so far any decision to freeze the assets of Saudi companies and businessmen under the charges of financing terrorism.

According to the Saudi news agency, minister Nayef said that the thinking that the religious influence inside Saudi Arabia is demolishing "is a grave mistake." He added that the "state is the protector, it is the effective functioning element of religion. It is the supporter for scholars."

As for religion, he added that "religion is for all." Nayef asserted replying to a question on new of splits of Saudi Arabia at the people and official levels following the events of September 11 that "what brings together the people of this country ( Saudi Arabia) and their leadership are but basic matters that have not changed, rather are getting stronger."

Al-Assaf for his part stressed that Washington has not frozen any Saudi assets. He said that what has been said to this effect is fabricated news stated by the media and denied by the American government by its treasury secretary. Al-Assaf stressed that Saudi Arabia "cooperates positively with the international organizations in the framework of fighting terrorism."

Al-Assaf made these statements on Tuesday evening following his meeting with the mayor of Houston, Lee Brown, who started an official visit to Saudi Arabia on top of government officials and business people in order to discuss means of increasing trade and economic cooperation relations between the two countries.

Brown underestimated the recent statistics concerning the reduction of the volume of joint trade between Saudi Arabia and the USA. He said that his country and the American people are "careful to maintain relations with Saudi Arabia and its people." He also considered the measures restricting the travel of certain Saudis to the US as not provisional and is not limited to a certain nationality."

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