Iraq's borders on alert

Iraq's borders on alert

Saudi Arabia has admitted US troops have been deployed near the northern border with Iraq, but maintains it will not allow any attacks on Iraq from its soil.

The defence minister said the build-up of troops was for defence purposes only, and to prepare for a flood of refugees if there was a US-led war.

We have no agreement with the United States in which they could descend or strike [Iraq] and go away

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz
Saudi Defence Minister

Saudis' unease over US ties

The closure of a small airport in the northern town of Arar, and increased military activity in the north-western town of Tabuk, have fuelled speculation about whether Saudi Arabia might play a more active role.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has started withdrawing civilian staff from its observer missions on the border between Iraq and Kuwait.

A spokesman said about 150 civilians and non-essential military personnel were being pulled back to Kuwait City for their own safety. More will follow on Monday.

Iraqi refugees

About 5,000 US troops have been based in Saudi Arabia since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. A US defence official on Friday said that number had risen to 8,000.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz acknowledged on Saturday that the number of US troops in the kingdom had increased.

But, he said, they were there for "humanitarian and technological co-operation only".

"We have no agreement with the United States in which they could descend or strike [Iraq] and go away," he said.

Prince Sultan said the kingdom was preparing to feed and shelter thousands of Iraqis just outside Saudi Arabia's borders.

"I won't tell you when or how many, but if 100,000 [refugees] come we are prepared to house them inside their country, inside their desert, so they would be near their families," he said.

Thousands of Iraqi refugees still live at a camp in the Saudi town of Rafha, more than 12 years after the last conflict.

Evacuation process

With the likelihood of a war increasing, the UN has started evacuating some of its 230 civilian staff from the demilitarised zone on the Kuwait-Iraq border.

The BBC's Adam Mynott said he saw about 15 buses and lorries leaving the area, filled with personal belongings.

A UN spokesman Daljeet Bagga said this was the third stage of a five-stage evacuation process.

There are currently no plans to move to a full evacuation, he told the BBC.