ME can play role in preventing world financial crisis: Brown

RIYADH: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said here that the Middle East rich with the wealth of oil can play an important role in preventing the world financial crisis.The British Prme Minister has reached Saudi Arabia on Saturday on the first leg of his four-day tour of the Gulf states to raise funds from the Middle East states for preventing the world economic crisis.Brown said that the rich countries should help the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at maximum so that the poor countries could be provided financial aid. The IMF eeds "hundreds of billions of dollars" to help countries at risk of collapsing amid the world financial crisis.In a meeting with Saudi ruler Sahh Abdulla bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, the British Prime Minister said that the Arab countries are important for their wealth and reserves of oil and they can play a central role in preventing the economic crisis.