March 31
— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince
Saud al-Faisal, said on Monday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
should make a war-ending "sacrifice" by stepping aside.
"Since he has ... asked his people to sacrifice for the country
... he should be the first to sacrifice for his country," Prince
Saud told ABC News in an interview.
"If his staying in power (is) the only thing that brings problems
to his country, we expect that he would respond to a sacrifice for
his country, as he requires any citizen there to ... sacrifice for
his country."
He made the comments to correspondent Barbara Walters who asked
him whether the Iraqi leader had to be removed from power.
Prince Saud, whose country strongly opposes the war even though
it is a key U.S. ally, repeated earlier calls for a halt to the
fighting to make room for more diplomacy.
"This war can only lead to strife, to bloodshed and to increased
hatred, and increased ... anxieties in the region," he said.
"Perhaps this is a good time to stop, take a breath, and allow for
diplomacy to work."
The United States, he added, "has to do some reckoning internally
for the advice that it has had."
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