Saudi army concludes maneuvers near Jordanian border

The Saudi army on Tuesday concluded its largest maneuvers for 1998 in which some 10,000 soldiers took part 50 km from Jordanian border and 200 km from the Israeli city of Eilat on the Red Sea.

Saudi second deputy premier, and Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz attended the last day of the maneuvers which lasted for two weeks in a desert area north of Tabbouk in northwest Saudi Arabia in which all Saudi weapons types took part.

Prince Sultan denied that carrying out the maneuvers in this region near Israel was done intentionally, noting, "When these maneuvers were planned to be held in Tabbouk we did not to relate this to the area's distance from Israel."

He continued, "The Saudi armed forces carry out two or three maneuvers every year in various districts of the Kingdom with the objective of developing the fighting capabilities of the Saudi soldier."