Saudi denies Iraqi arms smuggling

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 23 (UPI) -- A high-ranking Saudi official Monday denied any arms were smuggled into the oil-rich kingdom from Iraq during the war.

Brig. Gen. Talal Mohsen Ankawi, the director general of Saudi border guards, was quoted as saying in Saudi daily Okaz that the border with Iraq was tightly controlled and attempts to smuggle drugs were foiled.

"No arms or explosives smuggling was reported on the Saudi-Iraqi border since the beginning of the year. There were a few cases of drug smuggling and people infiltration," Ankawi said.

He denied explosives used in three bombing attacks that rocked the Saudi capital of Riyadh last month were smuggled from Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime last April 9.