Finally rid of a menacing neighbour, Saudi Arabia has greeted the capture of Saddam Hussein with silent relief tinged with concern over Washington's future plans for Iraq and the Gulf.
In stark contrast to Kuwait, the tiny emirate briefly occupied by Saddam's forces 13 years ago, there was no jubilation in Saudi streets and the kingdom's rulers marked a final chapter in the Iraqi leader's demise without comment. The official Saudi Press Agency quoted a source saying only that the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter and a strategic US ally, hoped Iraq was heading for a bright future of "political, economic and social stability" as a sovereign and unified country.
On Riyadh's stock exchange, the biggest in the Arab world, shares rose yesterday, consolidating a 0.8 per cent gain after news of Saddam's arrest. But traders said the impact was modest.
"Many people here will feel relieved," said Mr Abdulaziz al-Fayez, a member of Saudi Arabia's consultative Shura Council.
"There may be celebration in Washington, maybe in Iraq. But here it is a feeling of relief. This is a by-product of a war that not many people were happy with," he added.
Saudi Arabia publicly refused to allow Washington to launch offensive air strikes from its territory during the invasion.