Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz met in Jedda on Tuesday
with visiting Chinese Mideast envoy Sun Bigan on bilateral ties and
the current situation in Lebanon.
Sun said that friendship and cooperation between China and Saudi
Arabia have been developing since the establishment of their
diplomatic ties in 1990, pointing to the fact that President Hu
Jintao and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz exchanged visits in
three months earlier this year.
"The visits laid a solid foundation for the growth of bilateral
ties in the years ahead," Sun said.
On the situation in Lebanon, he said that the adoption of UN
Security Council Resolution 1701 was the first step toward solving
the Lebanon-Israel issue by political means, and the international
community should work to ensure the effective implementation of the
resolution in order to achieve a political solution to the issue in
this end.
"China is willing to maintain contact with Saudi Arabia and
other Arab countries on the implementation of the resolution," he
said, adding China hopes that the reconstruction process in Lebanon
would begin as soon as possible.
Resolution 1701, unanimously adopted by the Security Council on
Friday, calls for Israel's withdrawal and authorizes an increase of
the existing UN force in Lebanon to 15,000 troops to help Lebanese
troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.
The UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah
took effect at 8:00 AM (0500 GMT) on Monday. More than 1,100
Lebanese and over 150 Israelis had been killed in the conflict.
For his part, the crown prince said that he was satisfied with
the development of Sino-Saudi ties, stressing that the kingdom
attaches great importance to developing its relations with
China.
He said that parties concerned should honor Resolution 1701, and
the Hezbollah issue is Lebanon's internal affair, which should be
dealt with by the Lebanese people.
He also praised China's stance on upholding justice in the
international arena.
Sun arrived here on Monday for a three-day visit to Saudi
Arabia. Before the visit, he visited Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian
territories, Israel and Egypt.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2006)
