Saudi crown prince bringing Arab criticism to Bush

By Tom Raum

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is bringing President Bush blunt Arab criticism of the U.S. performance in Mideast peacemaking. He’s likely to hear some complaints about recent Saudi conduct.

Their meeting Thursday at the president’s Texas ranch comes at a troubled time in the 70-year friendship between the United States and the oil-rich desert kingdom.

Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 alleged Sept. 11 hijackers have Saudi roots. The kingdom’s initial indifference to the U.S.-led war on terrorism and its financial support for Islamic militants have also soured relations somewhat.

As anti-American anger flares up in the Arab world, Thursday’s session is being watched internationally for hints of what may lie ahead for the stalled peace process.

“We’re analyzing all options to help achieve this vision,” Bush said before his first meeting with Abdullah, who has been the de facto ruler since his half brother, King Fahd, suffered a stroke in 1995.

High on the agenda: Abdullah’s land-for-peace initiative, endorsed by most Arab nations. It calls for offering peace and full recognition to Israel in exchange for the territory Jordan and Syria lost in the 1967 war.

Abdullah’s plan also includes the creation of a Palestinian state.

Bush has voiced support. But the Saudi leader is expected to press him to do more to sell it to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Also under review: an international conference on Mideast peacemaking. Bush so far has been noncommittal.

Before traveling to Bush’s ranch near Crawford, Texas, the crown prince was having dinner in Houston on Wednesday with Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise said they planned an “expanded session” to include several other administration officials.

With a reputation for directness, Abdullah is expected to urge Bush to pressure Israel to withdraw troops from the West Bank and free Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from virtual house arrest.

Israel’s delay of a U.N. mission to investigate the devastated Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank has further inflamed Arab resentment.

“This is a very unsettled situation still,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution. “The Bush administration hasn’t yet come up with a meaningful approach.”

White House aides said Bush hoped to address not only the Israel-Palestinian crisis and the next phase of the war on terrorism, including what to do about Iraq, but broader economic and trade issues as well.

Bush also wants to discuss how to press forward with the crown prince’s Mideast peace proposal, one official said.

Also certain to come up: recent Saudi sponsorship of a telethon to help relatives of Palestinian “martyrs.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel on Wednesday that were indications that some of the $100 million collected may have gone to elements of the Islamic military Hamas organization. “There are troubling aspects as to how that telethon money would be distributed,” Powell said. He said he would raise the telethon issue at the Texas sessions.

Saudi officials have criticized Bush for failing to crack down on Israel and for his characterization of Sharon as “man of peace.” Bush’s comments sent tensions in the Middle East “headed for an abyss,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

Abdullah met Cheney in Saudi Arabia last month. He met Powell in Morocco earlier this month during Powell’s unsuccessful 10-day peacemaking trip.

The two countries have had a marriage of convenience since oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. They have worked together for years to shape the balance of power in the Middle East and Central Asia.

U.S. forces used Saudi territory as a base for the 1991 Gulf War. But Saudi Arabia denied use of its territory for attacks against Afghanistan – and Abdullah reportedly told Cheney that the United States could not use Saudi soil for prospective future action against Iraq.

The Prince Sultan Air Base, where about 4,500 U.S. soldiers and an undisclosed number of warplanes are based in the Saudi desert, remains an important U.S. nerve center. But the administration is weighing other possible options for bases, given U.S-Saudi tensions.

Abdullah may try to erase some of the American hard feelings toward Saudi Arabia, suggested Judith Kipper, a Mideast analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, “the Saudis were in denial and shock. They are a very closed society,” she said. “The crown prince saw that approach was not working, and decided to be more open.”

Even as he meets with one of the most powerful figures in the Arab world, Bush remains under heavy pressure from strong pro-Israel supporters in both parties to not abandon longtime U.S. support for Israel.

“This meeting with Abdullah could be quite important, as a signal that we’re either back on track or stuck in the mud,” said conservative publisher Bill Kristol.