Saudi Arabia denies reports on contacts with Israel

Saudi Arabia has rejected as "fabricated" reported contacts between Saudi and Israeli officials, including a purported meeting between Israel's Premier Ehud Olmert and King Abdullah.

"The news story circulated by Israeli and Qatari media recently over contacts between Saudi and Israeli officials is utterly false," the SPA news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying Tuesday. "The story is completely fabricated," added the official.

Israel's Yediot Ahranot reported Monday that Prime Minister Olmert had held an unprecedented meeting recently with an "extremely" senior figure in the Saudi royal house. It quoted an official as saying that the Saudi figure was King Abdullah himself.

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel had also broadcast a similar report.

However, Olmert himself denied Monday the report: "I did not meet with the Saudi king and I did not meet with any element which should have caused a sensation in the press."