King Fahd refuses use of Saudi territories against Iraq

US Secretary of Defense William Cohen on Tuesday in Riyadh was confronted by a Saudi obstacle before the US military buildup against Iraq. Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz refused to convert the Saudi territories as a "starting point" for launching military acts against Iraq.

Meanwhile, Britain announced that it will not permit Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to win the new confrontation. Iraq, on the other hand, said it had "put every thing into its consideration" before deciding to suspend cooperation with UNSCOM.

On Tuesday, King Fahd received Cohen in Riyadh, which was on the first leg of his tour of the Gulf region. The meeting was attended by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and chief of staff of the Saudi Army Lt. Gen. Saleh Bin Ali al-Mahba.

The Lebanese daily al-Safir reported that a Saudi official who asked not to be identified said that, "King Fahd told Cohen that Saudi Arabia does not agree to use its territories to launch attacks against Iraq if Washington decided to attack Iraq."

The Saudi official added that King Fahd also told Cohen that Saudi Arabia totally rejects providing facilities for a US military strike against Iraq.

Yesterday, the Pentagon described its forces in the Gulf as "a very robust force in the region that we have maintained for some time. That force includes both carrier-based air and land-based air. We have approximately 23,000 U.S. personnel who are in the region. That includes personnel of all branches of the service -- Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force. The aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower is there right now. The Amphibious Ready Group is centered around the amphibious ship Essex. There are a number of Tomahawk-capable ships in the region that we maintain on a continuing basis."

The US Defense Department downplayed the visit of Cohen describing it as "more low key than we have done in the past."