Nosedive in Saudi-US ties

A recently divulged letter from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to US President Bush confirms that there was a rift in Saudi-US relations even before the 11 September attacks, writes Michael Jensen
A former Saudi intelligence chief has revealed the contents of a letter, written in late August, in which the oil-rich kingdom threatened to review ties with its key ally, the United States. The letter called on Washington to take active steps towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a rare television interview aired on 8 November, Prince Turki Al-Faisal described how "Crown Prince Abdullah sent a letter to President George W Bush before 11 September, in which he stated that relations between the two countries were at a crossroads."
Prince Turki, who stepped down in August after nearly 25 years in office as intelligence chief, was interviewed by the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC). Prince Abdullah "also wrote that the kingdom would be forced to review its ties with the United States if the US was not ready to move ahead with finding a successful solution to the Middle East conflict," he said.
Prince Turki described the letter as "strongly worded" and said it was "unique in Arab-American relations." He also described the US reaction to the letter. "President Bush expressed willingness to enter into discussions with the kingdom about arrangements for an equitable and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question," he said.
The 11 September attacks in New York and Washington delayed any US moves in terms of peace in the Middle East peace, Prince Turki said.
Saudi efforts to convince President Bush to exert pressure on Israel to resume talks have not let up, however. Saudi Arabia was reportedly hoping to arrange a meeting between President Bush and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat when the two were present at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week. The Saudi plan failed to materialise, however. Bush refused even to shake hands with Arafat.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal did not hide his country's anger. Al-Faisal said Bush's failure to make use of this opportunity to meet Arafat "makes a sane man go mad."
The widely-reported remark came during a New York Times interview conducted in Washington on Thursday. Prince Saud, who was en route to New York for the UN meeting, also said his government was "angrily frustrated" with the Bush administration's failure to launch a promised new Middle East peace initiative.
"The sad thing is that achieving peace will take very little," Saud told the newspaper. He said Bush must establish himself as an "honest broker," adding that "he cannot be an honest broker if he only meets with one side."
Ever since the Iranian monarchy was overthrown in 1979, US intelligence analysts have feared that the House of Saud might meet a similar fate. Until recently, however, most experts agreed that revolution in Saudi Arabia was unlikely. The New York Times reported on 4 November that following the 1996 attack on the US military housing complex at Al-Khobar, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted a rigorous study on the situation in the kingdom, and concluded that it was politically stable. 11 September may have changed that prognosis. CIA analysts and leading Saudis have warned of potential instability.
Experts on Saudi Arabia believe that for the last seven decades, the fortunes of the House of Saud have been determined by the interplay of three main factors. The first is the compact made between the ruling family and the Wahhabi sect which swept the dynasty into power. The second is oil. The third is the connection forged between Saudi rulers and the US.
The post-11 September climate has brought to light a serious rift between the House of Saud and purist Wahhabi elements in the kingdom. The alleged mastermind of attacks on the US, Saudi-born Osama Bin Laden, enjoys considerable popularity with the Saudi public. Fifteen of the 19 suspects believed responsible for the attacks on the US are reported to have come from Saudi Arabia. This is a telling statistic. It is indicative of deep alienation and anti-American sentiment, especially amongst young Saudis.
The growth of such feelings over the past decade has been fuelled by a decline in living standards caused by fluctuating oil prices and massive defense expenditures. Popular resentment over the presence of US troops on Saudi soil is also to blame. There is also widespread anger against the US over its failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Existing resentments were exacerbated when the US built up its forces to attack Afghanistan.
Several fundamentalist Saudi clerics have ruled that "whoever supports the infidel against Muslims is considered an infidel." According to the clerics, it follows that "it is a duty to wage jihad on anyone who attacks Afghanistan."
The House of Saud is not blind to this rising popular resentment. After the US air campaign on Afghanistan began, Saudi royals called for an end to US bombing of civilians. Public anger was unabated, however, and consequently Riyadh is giving domestic concerns priority over US demands for full cooperation in its anti-terror campaign.
Saudi Arabia permits the United States to use advanced command-and-control facilities at the recently completed Prince Sultan air base south of Riyadh. The US is not permitted to conduct offensive air operations from there, however.
This ban on offensive operations precipitated a virulent anti-Saudi campaign in the Western media, which was not mollified by Riyadh's promptness in freezing the assets of groups and individuals on the US terrorist list. The media offensive elicited furious protests from senior members of the Saudi ruling family.
Ever since the Saudi-US. relationship was established in the 1930s, the fate of Palestine has been a thorny issue between the two countries. The rift first emerged in correspondence between King Abdel Aziz and President Franklin Roosevelt -- when the US tried to enlist the king's support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. This traditional US-Saudi tension over Palestine has been intensified by the newfound divergence between Washington's and Riyadh's stands on Afghanistan.
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