February 17, 1999

THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES RECEIVES A LETTER FROM PRESIDENT ALI SALIH. THE YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS: "THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS OVER BORDERS AND I WOULD RATHER CUT OUT MY TONGUE THAN TO MAKE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST BROTHERS OR TO ATTACK THEM." The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud, received a letter from the Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Salih which was passed on to him by the Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Qadir Bajamal, during a visit paid to King Fahd's office at the Yamama Palace. Minister Bajamal also passed on President Salih's good wishes and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In attendance at the reception of the Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister were Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Aviation, and the Inspector General, and Prince Saud Al Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister, and Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of State and member of the Saudi Cabinet, and the special advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Ibrahim Al-Anqari, and the Minister of State and member of the Saudi Cabinet, Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Khaweitir, and the Minister of State and member of the Cabinet, Dr Musaid Al-Eiban, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Al-Kabab. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the Saudi National Guard, also received a letter from President Saleh during his reception of Bajamal. The Yemeni official was also received by Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and also by Prince Saud Al Faisal, the Foreign Minister. Bajamal announced that the discussions focused on the whole spectrum of bilateral relations in general and on matters related to the issue of the borders between the two countries in particular, in addition to the current general situation in the Arab world. The Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister indicated that the letter which he had presented to Crown Prince Abdullah from President Saleh spoke about the results which had been arrived at in the course of the on-going negotiations between the two countries in order to settle what is left of the border issues and in order to come to an acceptable and satisfactory solution for the two brother countries. Furthermore, he emphasised that his talks in Riyadh and the letter which he presented there come with the framework of the continuous consultation between the Saudi and the Yemeni leaderships and he denied that they were any differences between the Saudi and the Yemeni sides which are participating in the negotiations. He was asked: Is there any difference between the points of view of the Yemeni and Saudi sides in the Renewal Committee for Border Demarcations concerning the definition of the erased border demarcations? He replied: The members of this committee are still meeting and negotiating and it has not completed its work, so we cannot say that there are any differences. Q: Are there any Yemeni suggestions concerning the issue of erased border demarcations that we know of? A: The truth is that we are in a stage of negotiation and dialogue and each party is putting forward suggestions from its side and the dialogue is continuing in the matter of these suggestions in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood. In these talks, there is good faith and positive intention, which prevents any differences from arising. As for the demarcation of the borders, this is something defined in the Taif treaty and in what followed it. He said: "The relations between the two countries are strong and good and the leaderships of the two countries are keen to make sure that their relations grow even better. I want to emphasise that there are no problems and in particular the dialogue between the leaderships of the two countries at the highest levels is on-going and the negotiation in the matter of borders is carrying on, and this prevents the outbreak of any difficulties that might emerge." He said: "We are of the opinion that the consultation and the constructive, positive negotiation must follow a good and reasonable path until a final agreement is reached that is satisfactory to the two sides and we believe that the good intentions which exist in both countries will work to speed up the time of the negotiation." He was asked: When do you expect a visit by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Saudi Arabia? He answered: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen are two neighbouring brotherly countries and there is nothing to prevent a visit by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Saudi Arabia, nor is there anything to prevent any official from among the leaders of the Kingdom, such as Crown Prince Abdullah, or Prince Sultan, or anyone else, from visiting Yemen, particularly if there were some occasion which called for a visit. The two countries are open to one another. Mr Bajamal was asked about a statement attributed to him by a German newspaper in which he was purported to say that "the majority of the kidnapping operations are carried out on account of a foreign power", and when he was asked which foreign powers he meant his reply was recorded as: "Look at the map and you will see who our neighbours are." The newspaper then asked him if he meant by that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and he replied: "I did not mention that name and I would prefer to cut out my tongue than to mention it." And he added: "By God Almighty, I myself was personally surprised by this statement and it seems that it was an utterance taken out of context during the visit of the German Foreign Minister, Oscar Fischer, to Yemen, but I do not remember exactly that statement because I did not meet a German journalist from this newspaper. Taking words out of context like this can give them a meaning which is completely impossible for them to have. I put things in their proper perspective. Indeed we do have a real problem with the British in the matter of the tourists, but in spite of all of that, instructions have been given to freeze any problem between us and the British despite the current court cases. We are not opening the door of the media on others in spite of the existence of problems. There are some people who are carrying British passports and they were born in Britain, and they are being tried by us. However, even if that is the case we do not want to weigh down the media in this matter. It is something that has been turned over to the judiciary and it is for the judiciary alone to decide." Bajamal stressed that he is "always keen preserve excellent joint relations between us and our neighbours and primarily with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". He said: "Our ambassador in Berlin sent me the statement and I did not find this strange mixture in it. Even from the point of view of logic, it is not reasonable for me, the foreign minister, to come out with these words just before I have a definite appointment to go to Saudi Arabia. It is not logical and I would not do it even if I did not understand a thing about diplomacy." And in an answer about the progress of border negotiations between Riyadh and Sanaa, the Yemeni foreign minister said: "Things are going ahead, and in my estimation we must not be in too much of a hurry because pushing things on and showing too much haste makes people think that the talks are going on in a state of disquiet and as far as I can see that is not the case. The dialogue is still going on and the consultation is happening, and on this side I am not worried. There is no stalemate and no disruption in these negotiations and this is very important.