Relations between Saudi Arabia and Middle and Near East countries

This file concerns Saudi Arabia’s relations with the Arab world. It contains correspondence and newspaper articles in (Arabic and English) relating to:

• King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s ‘open dialogue’ with faculty and students at King Abdul Aziz University, during which he discussed the bombing attacks against US and French troops in Beirut; Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) joint military manoeuvres; and Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz
• The Yemen Arab Republic’s (YAR) requests for funding from Saudi Arabia to rebuild after an earthquake in 1982; the funds available to the YAR for reconstruction; and the meeting of the Saudi Arabia-YAR Coordination Council in Riyadh
• The YAR’s application for GCC membership
• The role of Saudi Arabia in isolating Egypt following Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel in 1979
• Saudi attempts to precipitate a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers prior to the planned Arab Summit at Casablanca
• Saudi wishes to avoid a schism within the Arab world over the Arab-Israel dispute
• The Saudi guaranteeing of a loan taken by Libya
• Crown Prince Abdulla Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s criticism of opponents within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon to PLO leader Yasser Arafat
• The expulsion of Iranians from Saudi Arabia
• King Fahd’s message to mark the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
• Foreign Minister Prince Sultan Bin Faisal Al Saud’s newspaper interviews following his visit to Indonesia, concerning US-Israel relations, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Egypt’s estrangement from the Arab League, bomb attacks in Kuwait and Saudi-Indonesia relations.

The file also refers to improved Qatari attitudes to Egypt.