RIYADH, Jan 12: Security cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is excellent and has existed even before the recent developments in the region, Saudi Deputy Minister of Interior Prince Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz said.

He was commenting on the statement of the Saudi ambassador in Pakistan that he was unaware of any Saudi detainee in Pakistan.

According to press reports here, the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad had stated that other Saudis might be present in detention camps set up by Pakistani and American authorities on Pakistan-Afghanistan border. However, the Saudi government was unaware of any such detention camps, he said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Thursday urged the US to eliminate the causes of tension in the Middle East as part of its global anti-terror campaign.

“If this campaign should extend to the Arab world, we would hope that it will concentrate on eliminating the factors conducive to violence and tension,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told the daily Al-sharq Al-Awsat.

“Resolving outstanding problems that have deprived the region of stability and made it a victim of terrorism should do this,” he added. He said the war on terror would continue “so long as this phenomenon (of terrorism) persists.”