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)