September 2, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-us-Saani23,1423

BAGHDAD, Sept 1: A member of the Saudi royal family is due in Baghdad on Monday on the first such visit since the 1991 Gulf war, an official source said on Sunday.

“A Saudi prince will fly into Saddam International Airport aboard a jet of the United Arab Emirates-based company Gulf Falcon,” the information ministry’s press center said in a statement. It did not identify the Saudi royal.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia initiated a thaw in relations during an Arab summit held in Beirut last March.

Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said in an August 22 interview that Baghdad was prepared to restore diplomatic ties with Riyadh, severed since the Gulf war, when Saudi Arabia deemed fit, and he voiced satisfaction at the kingdom’s refusal to take part in any new assault on Iraq.

Saudi Arabia has in recent weeks repeatedly come out against any US military action against Iraq.—AFP