Visit by Richard Luce, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to Saudi Arabia, March 1985

This file concerns the visit of Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Richard Luce to Saudi Arabia. It contains correspondence, memoranda and briefing material concerning:

• A personal message for King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher concerning her visit to Washington, DC
• A message from Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine to Defence Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
• The question of extending invitations for Saudi ministers to visit the UK
• The cases of John Smith and Donald Hagger, who are imprisoned in Iraq
• Issues surrounding the move of the British Embassy from Jedda [Jeddah] to Riyadh
• The agenda for the visit including the internal situation in the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY); Saudi involvement in the Mozambican Civil War; and the right of British airline British Caledonian to use Riyadh International Airport
• The case of John Kelly, a British national imprisoned and subject to corporal punishment for the manufacture and sale of alcohol
• The problem of British consular staff being denied access to visit British nationals held in Saudi prisons
• The Iran-Iraq War and Saudi concerns regarding UK supplies of arms to the combatants
• The efforts of King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan and Yaser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict; Saudi Arabia’s view of Britain and the European Economic Community (EEC) as key allies in an Arab-Israeli peace process; and Luce’s discussion with the Chief of the Jordanian Armed Forces Zayed Bin Shaker
• The question of Saudi access to the EEC market for their petrochemicals
• Reports on Luce’s visit, including records of his conversations with King Fahd, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Bin Faisal Al Saud, the Minister of Finance Mohammad Abu Al Khail, the Minister of Industry and Electricity Abdul Aziz Bin Abdulla Al Zamil, the Minister of Commerce Dr Sulaiman Al Sulaim and the Minister of the Interior Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
• Parliamentary Questions posed to Luce upon his return concerning the sentence of corporal punishment given to John Kelly; a reported ban on celebrating Christmas in Saudi Arabia; and discrimination against women
• Correspondence between Luce and Prince Saud following Luce's departure.