SAUDI ARABIA: Foreign Minister comments on Bin Laden's daughter and separately on failure to reach Middle East peace deal

Record ID: 189173

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Foreign Minister comments on Bin Laden's daughter and separately on failure to reach Middle East peace deal
  • Date: 4th January 2010
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (JANUARY 2, 2010) (REUTERS) PRINCE SAUD AL FAISAL, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER AND TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM PHOTOGRAPHER WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRINCE SAUD AL FAISAL SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYING: "There is a daughter of bin Laden (Iman) (at the Saudi embassy in Tehran). It is not true that the government hasn't done anything about this. The government mentioned that she is at the embassy. There was a long statement for the embassy in this regard. We consider this to be a purely humanitarian issue and we are in talks with the Iranian government to treat it as such and leave the choice of leaving to the her (Iman)." TURKISH JOURNALIST ASKING SAUD AL FAISAL A QUESTION VARIOUS OF REPORTERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRINCE SAUD AL FAISAL SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYING: "Unfortunately, the international situation is complicated and the reason why we are not reaching solutions (for the Middle East conflict) is the result of the special treatment which Israel gets. For other countries, when they violate international law, other countries get punished but not Israel. When a country commits war crimes, other countries get punished with the exception of Israel. It (Israel) gets away with anything it does without accountability or punishment, Israel has become like the spoilt child of the international community." REPORTERS SAUDI AND TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTERS LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 19th January 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Reuters ID: LVA4VSPK51WB54XK0Q71GBUS9RG6
  • Story Text: Saudi Arabia urged Iran on Saturday (January 2) to allow a daughter of Osama bin Laden, who fled house arrest and sought refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran, to leave the country if she wishes.
    Iman bin Laden and five siblings had been held in Tehran since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported last month. Iman, 17, escaped during a rare trip outside in November and made her way to the embassy, the paper said.
    Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference in Riyadh that Iman should be allowed to leave Iran.
    "We consider this to be a purely humanitarian issue and we are in talks with the Iranian government to treat it as such and leave the choice of leaving to the girl," he said.
    Asharq al-Awsat, owned by a cousin of Prince Saud, has reported that the Saudi embassy has issued Iman with a temporary travel permit to allow her to return to Saudi Arabia.
    Relations between Saudi Arabia and non-Arab Iran have been marked by regional rivalry and mutual mistrust due mainly to sectarian tensions in the region between Sunnis and Shi'ites -- Islam's two main factions -- and more recently over Tehran's nuclear plans.
    Iman's father, Osama bin Laden, was born into a wealthy Saudi family but had his nationality revoked. The al Qaeda head is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
    Al-Faisal also blamed the failure to reach a peace agreement in the Middle East on Israel being granted too many concessions by the international community .
    "Unfortunately, the international situation is complicated and the reason why we are not reaching solutions (for the Middle East conflict) is the result of the special treatment which Israel gets," he said.
    The Saudi foreign minister told the Riyad news conference that unlike many other countries Israel is not punished for violations of international law, such as war crimes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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