[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 17 (Monday, May 2, 2005)]
[Pages 665-667]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah 
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

April 25, 2005

    Sixty years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Kingdom of 
Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz Al Saud held a historic meeting 
upon a sturdy ship at the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal. In six 
hours President Bush's predecessor and the Crown Prince's father 
established a strong personal bond that set the tone for decades of 
close relations between our two nations.
    Today, we renewed our personal friendship and that between our 
nations. In our meeting we agreed that momentous changes in the world 
call on us to forge a new relationship between our two countries--a 
strengthened partnership that builds on our past partnership, meets 
today's challenges, and embraces the opportunities our nations will face 
in the next sixty years.
    Our friendship begins with the recognition that our nations have 
proud and very distinct histories.
    The United States respects Saudi Arabia as the birthplace of Islam, 
one of the world's great religions, and as the symbolic center of the 
Islamic faith as custodian of Islam's two holy places in Makkah and 
Madina. Saudi Arabia reiterates its call on all those who teach and 
propagate the Islamic faith to adhere strictly to the Islamic message of 
peace, moderation, and tolerance and reject that which deviates from 
those principles. Both countries agree that this message of peace, 
moderation, and tolerance must extend to those of all faiths and 
practices. The two nations reaffirm the principles agreed to during the 
international conference on counterterrorism hosted by the Kingdom in 
February 2005. These principles were enshrined in the ``Riyadh 
Declaration'' which calls for, ``fostering values of understanding, 
tolerance, dialogue, co-existence, and the rapprochement between 
cultures. . . [and] for fighting any form of thinking that promotes 
hatred, incites violence, and condones

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terrorist crimes which can by no means be accepted by any religion or 
law.''
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recognizes the principle of freedom upon 
which the United States was founded, including the freedoms enshrined 
under the first amendment of the United States Constitution. The Kingdom 
appreciates the United States' historic role in working to end 
colonialism and imperialism and promoting the right of self-
determination.
    While the United States considers that nations will create 
institutions that reflect the history, culture, and traditions of their 
societies, it does not seek to impose its own style of government on the 
government and people of Saudi Arabia. The United States applauds the 
recently held elections in the Kingdom for representatives to municipal 
councils and looks for even wider participation in accordance with the 
Kingdom's reform program.
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States are close partners 
in many important endeavors. We welcome the renewed determination of 
Saudi Arabia to pursue economic reform and its quest to join the World 
Trade Organization (WTO). We will work together as partners to complete 
our negotiations and with other WTO members in Geneva with the aim of 
welcoming Saudi Arabia into the WTO before the end of 2005.
    Both nations pledge to continue their cooperation so that the oil 
supply from Saudi Arabia will be available and secure. The United States 
appreciates Saudi Arabia's strong commitment to accelerating investment 
and expanding its production capacity to help provide stability and 
adequately supply the market.
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States commit to actively 
help the Iraqi people realize their aspirations to build a secure, 
sovereign, prosperous, and unified nation at peace with its neighbors 
and where Iraqis of all religions and ethnic groups are free to 
participate in its institutions. Both nations call on the international 
community to support Iraq's political and economic development. Both 
nations urge neighboring states not to interfere in Iraq's internal 
political affairs.
    Both our nations have witnessed the horror of terrorism on our 
homelands by violent individuals and groups who indiscriminately kill 
people of all faiths and nationalities in order to further their 
extremist agenda. Both our nations assert our determination to continue 
to improve upon our close cooperation to combat terrorism and to choke 
off resources intended for them and their support networks. We honor the 
memory of the victims of terrorism--and those who have lost their lives 
fighting terrorists--and pledge to work together until terrorism no 
longer threatens our nations and the entire world.
    The United States and Saudi Arabia continue to support efforts to 
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and of the technology and 
materiel needed to develop and build nuclear weapons. Efforts to develop 
and acquire such weapons run contrary to efforts to promote peace and 
stability in the region.
    The United States and Saudi Arabia support UN Security Council 
Resolution 1559 and, accordingly, take note of Syria's decision to 
withdraw all its troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon. Both 
nations welcome a provisional Lebanese government and look forward to 
free and fair elections unburdened by foreign interference or 
intimidation.
    With regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States 
and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia desire a just, negotiated settlement 
wherein two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side 
in peace and security. We will continue our efforts to achieve this 
objective, and reiterate our support for the efforts of the Palestinian 
Authority to bring democracy, peace, and prosperity to all Palestinians. 
The United States thanks Crown Prince Abdullah for his bold initiative--
adopted unanimously by the Arab Summit in 2002--that seeks to encourage 
an Israel-Palestinian and Israel-Arab peace. We believe that an Israeli 
withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank will be a significant 
step forward toward implementation of the Road Map. It is our firm 
conviction that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will remove a 
major source of tension and contribute to stability and progress in the 
region.
    Finally, the United States and Saudi Arabia agree that our future 
relations must rest

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on a foundation of broad cooperation. We must work to expand dialogue, 
understanding, and interactions between our citizens. This will include 
programs designed to (1) increase the number of young Saudi students to 
travel and study in the United States; (2) increase our military 
exchange programs so that more Saudi officers visit the United States 
for military education and training; and (3) increase the number of 
Americans traveling to work and study in the Kingdom. The United States 
recognizes we must exert great efforts to overcome obstacles facing 
Saudi businessmen and students who wish to enter the United States and 
we pledge to our Saudi friends that we will take on this effort. A high-
level joint committee has been established to be headed by the Saudi 
Foreign Minister and the U.S. Secretary of State that will deal with 
strategic issues of vital importance to the two countries.

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement.