Saudi- Yemeni FM meet on developments, need for change

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal yesterday criticized the calls for reforms proposed by those who ignore " that we are able to deal with our issues and fulfill what our peoples want," while his Yemeni peer Abu baker al-Qurabi said, for his part, that while Sanaa considers that any change should stem from the region, but at the same time " we positively view all debated thoughts."

Two days after his talks in Riyadh with his American counterpart Colin Powell, prince Saud al-Faisal said in Sanaa, according to the Saudi official news agency, that the American proposals "imply clear accusations for the Arabs, as people and governments that they do not know their situation." He added " the advocates of these projects ignore that our Arab people own deeply rooted civilizations and ignore that we are able to deal with our issues and to know what our peoples want."

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh received a message from the Saudi crown prince al-Faisal said it pertains to "bilateral relations and political coordination between Sanaa and Riyadh prior to convening the Arab summit." A Yemeni source said that al-Faisal's talks concentrated "on the democratic reforms in the Arab world, recently raised by an initiative from the side of the US amid the political change in Iraq following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime."

Meantime, the Yemeni prime minister Abdul Qader Bajmal said that the " world is changing and we have to cope with these changes and the inspired reforms to meet the ambitions and needs of our people.."

The Yemeni news agency said that the commander of the American central leadership Gen. John Abizaid met on Saturday with the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and expressed his satisfaction over the efforts made by Yemen in the context of fighting terrorism.