CRAWFORD, April 25, 2005

Sixty years ago, President Franklin D.Roosevelt and the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz Al-Saudheld a historic meeting upon a sturdy shipat the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal.In six hours President Bush’s predecessorand the Crown Prince’s father establisheda strong personal bond that set the tonefor decades of close relations between ourtwo nations.

Today, we renewed our personalfriendship and that between our nations.In our meeting we agreed thatmomentous changes in the world call onus to forge a new relationship between ourtwo countries – a strengthenedpartnership that builds on our pastpartnership, meets today’s challenges, andembraces the opportunities our nationswill face in the next sixty years.

Our friendship begins with therecognition that our nations have proudand very distinct histories.

The United States respects SaudiArabia as the birthplace of Islam, one ofthe world’s great religions, and as the

symbolic center of the Islamic faith ascustodian of Islam’s two holy places inMakkah and Madinah. Saudi Arabiareiterates its call on all those who teachand propagate the Islamic faith to adherestrictly to the Islamic message of peace,moderation, and tolerance and reject thatwhich deviates from those principles. Bothcountries agree that this message of peace,

moderation, and tolerance must extend tothose of all faiths and practices. The twonations reaffirm the principles agreed toduring the international conference oncounter-terrorism hosted by the Kingdomin February 2005. These principles wereenshrined in the “Riyadh Declaration”which calls for “fostering values ofunderstanding, tolerance, dialogue, co-existence, and the rapprochementbetween cultures . . . [and] for fighting any form of thinking that promoteshatred, incites violence, and condonesterrorist crimes which can by no means be accepted by any religion or law.”

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabiarecognizes the principle of freedom uponwhich the United States was founded,

including the freedoms enshrined underthe first amendment of the United StatesConstitution. The Kingdom appreciatesthe United States’ historic role in workingto end colonialism and imperialism andpromoting the right of self-determination.

While the United States considers thatnations will create institutions that reflectthe history, culture, and traditions of theirsocieties, it does not seek to impose its ownstyle of government on the governmentand people of Saudi Arabia. The UnitedStates applauds the recently held electionsin the Kingdom for representatives tomunicipal councils and looks for evenwider participation in accordance with theKingdom’s reform program.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the

Joint Statement by Crown Prince Abdullah binAbdulaziz and President George W. BushText of the Communiqué

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President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah, Crawford, Texas, April 25, 2005

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabiaand the United States are close partners in

many important endeavors.

United States are close partners in manyimportant endeavors. We welcome therenewed determination of Saudi Arabia topursue economic reform and its quest tojoin the World Trade Organization(WTO). We will work together aspartners to complete our negotiations andwith other WTO members in Genevawith the aim of welcoming Saudi Arabiainto the WTO before the end of 2005.

Both nations pledge to continue theircooperation so that the oil supply fromSaudi Arabia will be available and secure.The United States appreciates SaudiArabia’s strong commitment to acceleratinginvestment and expanding its productioncapacity to help provide stability andadequately supply the market.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and theUnited States commit to actively help theIraqi people realize their aspirations tobuild a secure, sovereign, prosperous, andunified nation at peace with its neighborsand where Iraqis of all religions andethnic groups are free to participate in its institutions. Both nations call on theinternational community to supportIraq’s political and economicdevelopment. Both nations urgeneighboring states not to interfere inIraq’s internal political affairs.

Both our nations have witnessed thehorror of terrorism on our homelands byviolent individuals and groups whoindiscriminately kill people of all faithsand nationalities in order to further theirextremist agenda. Both our nations assertour determination to continue toimprove upon our close cooperation tocombat terrorism and to choke offresources intended for them and theirsupport networks. We honor the

memory of the victims of terrorism – andthose who have lost their lives fightingterrorists – and pledge to work togetheruntil terrorism no longer threatens ournations and the entire world.

The United States and Saudi Arabiacontinue to support efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and of the technology and material needed todevelop and build nuclear weapons.Efforts to develop and acquire suchweapons run contrary to efforts topromote peace and stability in theregion.

The United States and Saudi Arabiasupport UN Security Council Resolution1559 and, accordingly, take note ofSyria’s decision to withdraw all its troopsand intelligence personnel fromLebanon. Both nations welcome aprovisional Lebanese government andlook forward to free and fair electionsunburdened by foreign interference orintimidation.

With regard to the Palestinian-Israeliconflict, the United States and theKingdom of Saudi Arabia desire a just,negotiated settlement wherein twodemocratic states, Israel and Palestine, liveside by side in peace and security. We will

continue our efforts to achieve thisobjective, and reiterate our support for the efforts of the Palestinian Authority tobring democracy, peace, and prosperity toall Palestinians. The United States thanksCrown Prince Abdullah for his boldinitiative – adopted unanimously by theArab Summit in 2002 – that seeks toencourage an Israel-Palestinian and Israel-Arab peace. We believe that an Israeliwithdrawal from Gaza and parts of theWest Bank will be a significant stepforward toward implementation of theRoad Map. It is our firm conviction thatresolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflictwill remove a major source of tension and contribute to stability and progress in the region.

Finally, the United States and SaudiArabia agree that our future relations mustrest on a foundation of broad cooperation.We must work to expand dialogue,understanding, and interactions betweenour citizens. This will include programsdesigned to (1) increase the number ofyoung Saudi students to travel and studyin the United States; (2) increase ourmilitary exchange programs so that moreSaudi officers visit the United States formilitary education and training; and (3) increase the number of Americanstraveling to work and study in theKingdom. The United States recognizeswe must exert great efforts to overcomeobstacles facing Saudi businessmen andstudents who wish to enter the UnitedStates and we pledge to our Saudi friendsthat we will take on this effort. A high-level joint committee has been establishedto be headed by the Saudi ForeignMinister and the U.S. Secretary of Statethat will deal with strategic issues of vitalimportance to the two countries.

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office601 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037

S A U D I / U . S . R E L AT I O N S(continued)

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A high-level joint committeehas 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.