Saudi Ambassador: Mubarak’s trial does not bother Kingdom
Ahram Online, Thursday 4 Aug 2011
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador in Cairo said that his Kingdom is not wedded to Mubarak and supports Egypt's ruling military council


In his first reaction to the trial of the toppled president Hosni Mubarak, underway now in Cairo, Ahmed el-Qattan, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Egypt, denied that the trial of Egypt's former dictator "bothers"
the Kingdom.

The Saudi Ambassador discredited widespread, speculative reports that his government has threatened Egyptian authorities with the deportation of Egyptian citizens working in Saudi Arabia if Mubarak, a long-time, close Saudi ally, faced trial.

El-Qattan told Al-Hayat2 television that Saudis never suggested that Egypt pardon Mubarak during meetings between Saudi and Egyptian officials in recent months.

Al-Qattan also denied other media reports that Mubarak might have visited the kingdom in the period between 11 February, when mass protests toppled the former dictator, and early April, when Egyptian authorities indicted him on murder and corruption charges.

“Mubarak has not visited Saudi Arabia since he stepped down on February 11. Since that day, we have started a new page with Egypt’s ruling military council and the new Egyptian government,” El-Qattan added.

“Saudi Arabia has no intention of firing Egyptian workers. We want to see a stable Egypt,” El-Qattan emphasized.

In a different note, the Saudi Ambassador said that Saudi Arabia is not worried about the so-called “Arab spring,” or revolutions taking place in several Arab countries such as Syria and Yemen.

“Saudi Arabia is not concerned with external threats because our Kingdom is a stable country,” El-Qattan told Al-Hayat2.

In recent months, Saudi Arabia has pledged millions of dollars in aid to Egypt's ruling military council and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

Meanwhile, large numbers of Islamists and Salafists in Egypt continue to look to the rulers of the conservative Kingdom as prime sources of political and spiritual support.

Last Friday, thousands of Islamists rallied in Tahrir Square for amass demonstration organized to call for the implementation in Egypt of Sharia, or Islamic law, ala Saudi Arabia. Tens of protesters were seen raising the green flags of the Kingdom.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/18106.aspx