Iraq attack unwise, says Saudi minister

The Saudi Foreign Minister yesterday warned military action to topple Saddam Hussein could destabilise the Gulf region, after President George Bush failed to persuade Saudi Arabia to drop its opposition to US plans for regime change.

Prince Saud al-Faisal said it would be "unwise" for outside powers to attempt to install a new Iraqi leader, and said a diplomatic solution to the crisis could still be found if Iraq agrees to the return of UN weapons inspectors.

"Whether Saddam Hussein remains or is removed from power is up to the Iraqi people. It has never been shown in history ... that anybody removed from the outside and another person put in instead has made for the stability of the region," he told the BBC's World at One programme.

Prince Saud said his country was fully aware of the threat to regional stability posed by President Saddam's regime and its weapons of mass destruction; an Iraqi Scud missile had exploded on his own roof.

But Saudi Arabia was equally concerned about the danger of the disintegration of Iraq, which has a large Shia Muslim population in the south and a domination by ethnic Kurds in the north. "To put that on one side and consider that irrelevant and say the most important thing about Iraq is the removal of Saddam Hussein, we think is an unwise ... decision to make about Iraq."

Prince Saud's interview was broadcast after President Bush invited Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the veteran Saudi ambassador in Washington, to his Texas ranch for talks on Tuesday, after a phone call to Crown Prince Abdullah. Although Prince Bandar did not comment after the meeting, Saudi aides said UN weapons inspectors could contain Saddam "without firing a single bullet".

Mr Bush emerged insisting the Iraqi president was "a menace to world peace", but his spokesman said the President would consult allies over war with Iraq. The Crawford meeting was widely seen as an attempt to mend the administration's frayed relations with the Gulf monarchy. US conservatives say the Saudi brand of Islamic militancy threatens US interests.

Prince Saud was adamant Saudi Arabia was playing a leading part in the fight against Saudi-born Osama bin Laden. He said they prevented between $70m and $90m reaching al-Qa'ida "in the past few months".