RIYADH, Oct 13: Prince Sultan, the Saudi second deputy premier and minister of defence and aviation, was reported here as saying that any UN Security Council decision on Iraq will not be binding on the Kingdom.

This is in sharp contrast to what was said by the Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal earlier that Saudi Arabia would be obliged to abide by any UN resolutions on Iraq. He had hinted earlier that in case of any military assault on Iraq under the UN umbrella, Saudi Arabia would be obliged to offer its territory.

However, now the Saudi position seems to have changed. “We don’t have the ability to oppose the resolution of the United Nations or the Security Council. But it is not obligatory on us to implement what is said. We give priority to the interests of our country, then of the Muslims and the Arabs,” Prince Sultan was reported as telling the press in Dubai, after visiting the MBC television there.

In the meantime, the build-up to any possible military assault on Iraq is continuing unabated. The US has reportedly ordered the deployment of several hundred army military planners to Kuwait from where troops could enter Iraq. The US Central Command, based in Florida has already announced that a forward post would be established in Qatar by November this year. The US already has a large command headquarters in Bahrain. The US has reportedly beefed up its forces in Gulf, in anticipation of a possible assault on Iraq.

In the meantime, it was also reported here that the US Navy is seeking two big merchant ships to carry more armour and tracked vehicles from the US and Europe to the Middle East.