Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing consulted over the telephone
Sunday evening with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Saud Al-Faisal
during which the two officials exchanged views on the Iraq issue.
Li
introduced China's position on Iraq's post-war arrangements and
reconstruction and said China hopes that Iraq's domestic situation
will stabilize as soon as possible. He added that China will
provide additional humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi
people.
Li
said Iraq's post-war arrangements constitute a very complicated
issue which should safeguard the fundamental interests of the Iraqi
people and the region's peace and stability, and the issue should
be handled in accordance with the spirit of the UN Charter.
He
noted that China and Saudi Arabia share wide-ranging consensus in
this regard, and China will cooperate with the parties concerned,
including Saudi Arabia, and take an active part in Iraq's post-war
reconstruction.
Faisal said Iraq's security situation is worrying and that the UN
Security Council should play a key role in Iraq's security and
stability, which would be conducive to Iraq's sovereignty and
territorial integrity and to peace and stability in the region.
Faisal expressed his sympathy and concern to China, which has been
affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), saying that
the Saudi Arabian people will stand by the Chinese people in the
fight against SARS and that the Chinese government will lead the
Chinese people to a victory over SARS.
(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2003)