Saudi Arabia backs away from peace plan for Iraq

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia backed away Wednesday from an announcement that it had made a peace proposal to the United States and Iraq, saying only that it had offered "general ideas" about ending the war and not a formal initiative.

"We have thoughts and ideas that will not come to fruition unless both agree in principle it is time to stop the fighting," Foreign Minister Prince Saud told reporters. "Saudi Arabia has always thought the war should not have happened in the first place. Perhaps it's a good time to ... think about diplomatic solutions."

On Tuesday, Saud told reporters that the kingdom had made a peace proposal to Iraq and the United States and pledged to "knock on all doors" to get it heard. He did not give further details.

News of a peace plan had baffled both Washington and Baghdad. Saudi Arabia has been quietly aiding the U.S. war effort.

Washington said it was not aware of a peace proposal from Saudi Arabia, and Iraq's information minister described Prince Saud's comments as "baseless."

Wednesday, the official Saudi Press Agency issued a clarification from the minister stating "what the kingdom put forward were general ideas it has stressed on more than one occasion, not an initiative."

Weeks ago, Saudi officials discreetly floated the idea of exile for Saddam Hussein and suggested offering amnesty to all but his inner circle in the hope that senior generals would overthrow him.

As in other Arab countries, anti-war and anti-U.S. sentiments are simmering among Saudi citizens, fueled by images of Iraqi casualties on television.

Saudi Arabia hosted the U.S.-led coalition that expelled Iraq from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. At that time, the kingdom was under direct threat from the Iraqis, who were moving south toward Saudi Arabia.

Afterward, thousands of U.S. troops, housed at the Prince Sultan air base outside Riyadh, stayed to monitor the no-fly zone established in southern Iraq.

Thousands of U.S. troops were deployed near the Saudi border with Iraq and in a garrison town in the north in the months before the latest Iraq war. More have been deployed at Prince Sultan.

In addition, more than 3,000 Saudi soldiers are in Kuwait as part of an agreement to protect Kuwait from a possible Iraqi attack.