Saudis Say They Won’t Give Access for Iraq Hit

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia —  The Saudi government will not give the United States access to bases for an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but its foreign minister said Wednesday that the kingdom does not intend to expel American forces from an air base they now use for flights to monitor Iraq.

In an interview, Prince Saud al Faisal said the U.S.-Saudi alliance is as solid now as it was before Sept. 11.

He said Osama bin Laden, who was stripped of his Saudi citizenship, sought to drive a wedge between the two countries when he chose 15 Saudi citizens to be among the 19 hijackers who took part in the terrorist attacks on U.S. targets.

As for a possible strike on Iraq, Saud said, “attack is not the right policy to take.”

Opposition to a U.S. move to overthrow Hussein is gaining strength in Europe as well.

In an interview published Wednesday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said military action would wreck the international front fighting terrorism worldwide, throw the Mideast into turmoil and hurt the world economy.

Saud said his government has made no secret of its opposition to a U.S. strike on Iraq. Asked if the kingdom would allow the United States to use Saudi facilities for such an attack, the prince said: “We have told them we don’t [want] them to use Saudi grounds.”

The United States reportedly has quietly moved weapons, equipment and communications gear from Saudi Arabia to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in recent months.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that talk of a U.S. strike against Hussein was hypothetical and that President Bush had not asked the Saudis for use of their territory.