Saudi Ambassador to U.S.A. : Huge Improvement in Saudi-U.S. Relations Washington, Dhu-AlQa'dah 16, 1438, August 08, 2017, SPA --Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi ambassador to the United States of America sees that there is a huge improvement in Saudi-U.S. relations. In press interview with Washington Post, Prince Khalid said "I think that President Trump is determined to work with his allies in the region to counter Iranian expansionism and terrorism. We are happy with the current policies in the region." Commenting on the issue of Qatar, Prince Khalid said: "I think Qatar’s policies have been a threat to our national security, especially when they interfere in our domestic politics and support extremists. In Syria, they have supported al-Qaeda affiliates and some terrorist Shiite militias in Iraq. We hope Qatar will stop funding extremism". He further said that "The Saudi government is on the frontline of fighting terrorism. There might be people from a lot of different countries who support terrorism, but in Qatar the problem is that it is government-funded." In response to question with regard to supporting moderate groups in Syria, the Ambassador said "There are some moderate opposition groups, for example, the Free Syrian Army. There are a lot of people in Syria who want to free themselves from the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. We are working with our allies to help stabilize Syria," adding that "Bashar al-Assad has killed more than 500,000 people. We are working with the U.S. to end the Syria problem." Explaining the Kingdom's position regarding human rights, the Ambassador said "Every country moves forward, and so do we. The last two years have been a time of big change in our country. Human rights have been moving forward, women’s rights have been moving forward. Saudi youth have been given a chance to play a part in our future." He reiterated that "the leadership realizes that women are important to our future and moving our economy forward. We can’t move forward without half of our population." On resolving the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the Ambassador said " The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has stated that we want to solve the Palestinian-Israeli issue through the Arab peace initiative, and if Israel recognizes Palestine based on the 1967 borders, the Arab world has agreed to do so." On freeing Mosul, the Ambassador thinks that the success in Mosul shows the determination of the United States administration and also of the Iraqi military, saying "We will be glad to see Daesh defeated in Iraq, but they are a threat to our nation and our religion. As Muslims, we in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia need to do whatever it takes to end this once and for all." He affirmed the need for the incorporation of Sunnis and Shiites, and asserted that the sectarianism always leads to terrorism. He reiterated that " The Sunnis and Shiites have to be treated equally as Iraqi citizens. Iran wants Iraq to obey Iran. We support the independence of Iraq." On war in Yemen, Prince Khalid bin Salam said that "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been pushing all parties to the negotiating table but the Houthis refuse, They started to march to the capital and take over Yemen before the Yemeni government asked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to intervene and stop this attack. The ball is now in the Houthis’ court. They have to hand in their weapons and become part of Yemen, not part of Iran." Commenting on Iran threat to close the Arabian Gulf, the Prince said "Iran threatens to do so multiple times in the past. The whole world, including our government, is worried about that," adding that "the Strait of Hormuz is important not just to our economy but to the international economy and that the U.S. and its allies realize how big the Iranian threat is to international security, and we are ready to work together to contain Iranian actions and expansionist policies." In response to question with regards to 9/11 attacks and the attempts to associate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with them, Prince Khalid bin Salman said "We had nothing to do with 9/11. In 1996, Osama bin Laden issued a declaration of war against the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1994, we took away bin Laden’s Saudi citizenship when he was in Sudan. We think the same people who attacked the United States on 9/11 have attacked us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia multiple times," adding that " The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sees the 19 hijackers as al-Qaeda because those people represented al-Qaeda and there is a reason why al-Qaeda chose 15 Saudis. They wanted to create a split between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States." --SPA 10:45 LOCAL TIME 07:45 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w461940