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American Morning

Saudi Officials Unmoved After Meeting with Bush

Aired August 28, 2002 - 08:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, there's other news to tell you about this morning, including President Bush, who met for an hour yesterday at his Texas ranch with Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States. But the president apparently failed to convince the ambassador that Saddam Hussein is an immediate menace to world peace.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House this morning with more on this meeting -- Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, President Bush made his case for the need to oust Saddam Hussein before the Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar, at his ranch in Crawford yesterday. But Saudi officials were unmoved. The White House called it a social visit. President Bush and Prince Bandar spending about an hour together discussing a number of topics, including Middle East peace as well as the war on terror.

And on the topic of Iraq, the president stressed that no decision on military action had been made, that the Bush administration will continue to consult with its allies aboard on the best course of action dealing with Iraq, and that weapons inspections are only a means to an end, that Saddam Hussein must prove that Iraq does not have any weapons of mass destruction and that U.S. policy on Iraq, that is, of regime change, stands.

Now, while he did not convince any Saudi officials of this argument, one Saudi spokesperson did say yes, Saddam Hussein is a menace to the region, but that military action would destabilize that region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEL AL-JUBIER, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: There is no country in the world that I know of that supports military action against Iraq at this time. Why is that such a surprise to people? The reason that's the case is because people believe that every option should be exhausted before the military option is used. There is a process under way now. Let's see how that process goes and let's build a case legally for it.

We have not seen a case being built in terms of using force against Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Saudi officials argue that Saddam Hussein should be given one more chance to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq. But the last time that that happened was nearly four years ago -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at a rainy White House early this morning, thank you so much.

More on the story now. Egypt is the latest country to declare it will not support any U.S. attack on Iraq. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the U.S. cannot wait for allied support. Rumsfeld told marines in California the allies will fall in line behind the U.S. if a decision is made to attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't know how many countries will participate in the event the president does decide that the risks of not acting are greater than the risks of acting. But then what's important, it seems to me, is making the right decisions and the right judgments. And I've found over the years that when our country does make the right judgments, the right decisions, that other countries do cooperate and they do participate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So far no U.S. allies have declared direct support for the U.S. attack on Iraq.

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