Saudi-British military talks in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's second deputy premier and defense and civil aviation minister, Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, met on Tuesday in Riyadh with British Defense Minister George Robertson and members of his accompanying delegation, who arrived in Riyadh on Monday night.

Present at the meeting were the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Muhammad al-Hammad, the Saudi Army's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Saleh al-Mahya, and the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Andrew Green.

The visit of the British defense minister to Saudi Arabia falls in the course of his tour of the Gulf region's states during which Robertson will discuss with officials in the Arab Gulf states "bilateral relations in the military field and developments in the region."

Arab diplomatic sources stated that the British minister pointed during the talks to provocation from the Iraqi government regarding the US and British jets' patrols above the "no-fly zones" in northern and southern Iraq, assuring his country's determination to impose respect for the two zones as well as to prevent the Iraqi government from threatening its neighbors.

Prince Sultan said Riyadh supports the efforts aimed at lifting the sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people and opposes military actions against Iraq.