On the evening of May 11, Chinese Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing consulted over the telephone 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. 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. 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 partin
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.
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