June 19, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 03, 1428

RIYADH, June 18: Saudi King Abdullah called for a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear standoff and upheld Tehran’ right to civilian use of nuclear energy in an interview published on Monday in Spain.

“A nuclear programme in the region is an extra weight on her shoulders,” the king told El Pais in the interview as he opened a week-long European tour.

“All countries have a right to peaceful use of nuclear energy in accord with the norms of the International Atomic energy Agency (IAEA).” But he added, in a thinly-veiled reference to Israel, that “the criterion be applied to all countries in the region without exception.”

He said conflicts and tensions in the Middle East had the potential to de-stabilise and affect the entire world. The Middle East conflict could take ‘worldwide dimensions’, he warned.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the situation in Iraq and Lebanon, the nuclear and terrorism issues had created a highly volatile situation that could spread beyond regional borders, the king said.

King Abdullah denied that Saudi Arabia was a pool of terrorists, stressing that terrorist cells had spread over many countries and were making use of international conflicts. He emphasised the immediate need to handle and resolve the conflicts in the region.

The king is in Spain for a three-day official visit, the first by a Saudi monarch in 25 years. It follows the visit to Saudi Arabia by Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia in 2006.

On Thursday, Abdullah is expected in Paris, ahead of a conference aimed at ending the crippling political deadlock in Lebanon, a former French colony, before heading to Poland.

On the way home the king will also visit Egypt and Jordan, according to Saudi diplomatic sources.