IN THIS ISSUE

Interview with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal

Reporting, Analyses and Commentary

• US Troops Here for "Humanitarian Reasons"
• US Troops 'Pouring Into Saudi Arabia'
• Rumsfeld Visit 'Has Nothing To Do With War Date'
• War Now More Likely Than Ever: Saud
• Saudi Troops Deploy to Guard Kuwait
• Kingdom Won't Give Saddam Asylum: Saud
• Saudis Allow Use of Key Facilities to US
• Saudi Rulers Walk Political Tightrope
• Saudis Won't Allow Churches on Its Land
• Military Service
• 100 FBI Agents Arrest Saudi Student in Night Raid
• Iraq War to Cost Arab Economies Over $100B
• Drastic Decline in Number of Air Passengers
• Saudi Arabia Vows to Boost Oil Output in Event of War
• Saudi Hints US Troops May Be Cut After War
• Abdullah Urges Businessmen to Invest in Kingdom

Interview With Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius's interview with Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Foreign Minister, on March 9, 2003 -- 

Click here for a complete transcript.

Excerpt:

Ignatius: The US Saudi relationship has endured for many decades, but it has been through a terrible period in the last 18 months. Where do you see this relationship in the future? What kind of relationship do you see, five or ten years from now, in terms of US military presence and other factors?

Al-Faisal: Well, the relationship has been a historic relationship, and perhaps one reason for all the questions now here and in the United States is that we have taken this relationship, both sides, for granted. We have had excellent relations, but we never really talked to each other or thought of each other. Perhaps having differing interests in some issues and different priorities in other issues, but on the whole, there were no major issues of differences in the past.

Then there developed a difference about pursuing Middle East peace. This was prior to 9/11. We thought the US has promised as the major contributor to peace in our region gave a promise to pursue this policy-remember the Madrid Conference [in 1991]--that it would pursue this policy until peace was established. Then changes that happened in Israel and the policy of the Likud government of blocking the promises about peace. They broke all the treaties that they had with the Palestinians and they took what you call the iron-fisted policy towards the Palestinians and there was an impression created in the Middle East that the United States was not active enough to prevent this violence against the Palestinians.

And the issue of double standards was raised: The Israelis are allowed to build settlements when the United States is against settlements; they were able to use [against the Palestinians] weapons the US gave them as aid, despite law they couldn't be used against peaceful populations; that it began to go against every particular policy of the United States that had restrained Israel. Its position with Israel, keeping Israel supplied with arms, keeping it strong defense-was coupled in the past with important checks on how Israel can act and how it can proceed with the help the United States has given it. This seems to have shifted, where there are no longer checks on Israel that existed before. Remember President Eisenhower forced Israel, Britain and France to withdraw from Egyptian territory; President Reagan refused to allow the building of settlements; President Bush stopped aid to Israel if it did not pursue peace according to its commitments in Madrid.

The perception began to appear that all these checks have been removed by the United States and that Israel was given a free hand to act as it does. These are perceptions. Whether they are true or not, in the final analysis it is the perception that is important. In any case, the violence that was perpetrated by ... the Israelis, unchecked by the United States, kept building up, and this was what created the public opinion, which is now being seen in its frankness because of the new openness in Saudi Arabia. This is a shock to some Americans.

After 9/11, propaganda was built against Saudi Arabia in the media, [based on] longstanding misconceptions about the society, misconceptions about the people: The man with the petrodollar who doesn't know what to do with his money; images of the Arab walking around with 50 or 60 in a harem behind him. These comic impressions of the Arab were coupled with what happened on 9/11, and they established a public opinion basis that created the suspicion ... that exists now. These are the elements I think that have caused this new questioning in our relationship.

But also 9/11 has created another trend inside the United States, which is understandably very tense about its security, that threatens this human and personal relationship more than anything else. The intenseness of the security measure taken are preventing, for instance, students from studying in the United States-making it uncomfortable for Arabs in general and Muslims to stay in the United States. [These measures] are adding to the misunderstanding and tension, understandable though they are.

So the moral of the story now is that both countries must take stock of what happened. The basics of the importance of the relationship for both countries are there. We will rely on the United States for many things, as friends and as partners in many issues on which we see eye to eye. The United States relies on this region's countries for many things-you mentioned oil, of course, and other elements. Saudi Arabia remains a stabilizing country in the region, whatever is said about our level of democratization, we are stabilizing forces in the region with a stable society. So the basics of the relationship are there. It is how both governments will be able to work to safeguard this relationship and build on it and perhaps remove the misconceptions that exist here and there of each other that have been building up over the past...

ALSO SEE:
"The American-Saudi Arabian Relationship: A Briefing by HRH Prince Saud Al Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs," by John Duke Anthony

REPORTING, ANALYSES & COMMENTARY 
...background and context on current developments...

US TROOPS 'POURING INTO SAUDI ARABIA'
"...diplomats said that, despite its grave misgivings, the kingdom has decided that if the United States is determined to take military action it will stand by its ally in the name of friendship and self interest.  They added that the Saudi government believes a war will be shorter and more successful if the Americans can operate from Saudi facilities..." Complete report...

RUMSFELD VISIT 'HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WAR DATE' 
"US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Saudi Arabia next week is not intended to notify Riyadh on the date of a possible war on Iraq… …the US official's visit next week falls within the framework of a tour which is to include Kuwait and Qatar…"  [Expired Link]

WAR NOW MORE LIKELY THAN EVER: SAUD
"Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said here [Mar. 12] that a US-led war on Iraq was now more likely than ever before, and he urged Baghdad to take ‘very dramatic steps’ to avert a fresh conflict…"  [Expired Link]

KINGDOM WON’T GIVE SADDAM ASYLUM: SAUD
“Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday that Saudi Arabia will not give asylum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he decides to go into exile… …The minister reiterated that his country was not worried about the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq…” [Expired Link]

SAUDIS ALLOW USE OF KEY FACILITIES TO US 
"In an apparent attempt to secure an involvement in post-war plans for Iraq, Saudi Arabia has conceded to a range of US demands for facilities in the kingdom in the run up to any US attack… …Despite its strong opposition to war, the Saudi government is now resigned to the prospect. Like other governments in the region its key objective is to limit the duration of a war and the length of a US military occupation of Iraq…" Source: FT.com

SAUDI RULERS WALK POLITICAL TIGHTROPE 
"As U.S. forces gather in the Persian Gulf to prepare for a war against Iraq, Saudi leaders have engaged in one of the Middle East's great conjuring acts: facilitating a U.S. attack while casting a veil over the role of U.S. forces in the kingdom that would help carry it out…" Complete report…

SAUDIS WON'T ALLOW CHURCHES ON ITS LAND 
"Saudi Arabia, as the birthplace of Islam, will not allow churches to be built on its land, according to Defense Minister Prince Sultan. Islam is the only accepted religion in Saudi Arabia, home to the faith's holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. 'This country was the launch pad for the prophecy and the message, and nothing can contradict this, even if we lose our necks,' Sultan told reporters..."  [Expired Link]

MILITARY SERVICE 
"The Shoura Council yesterday approved a law allowing naturalized Saudis to serve in the military…" [Expired Link]

100 FBI AGENTS ARREST SAUDI STUDENT IN NIGHT RAID 
"Over 100 FBI agents raided the graduate student housing unit of the University of Idaho early [Mar. 7] morning and arrested Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a 34-year-old Saudi graduate student… …Charging papers contend that Al-Hussayen maintained websites for the organization that featured 'radical Islamic ideology' in order to bring about terrorist acts…"  [Expired Link]

IRAQ WAR TO COST ARAB ECONOMIES OVER $100B 
"Arab economies stand to suffer around $110 billion in direct losses during the remainder of the current year if the United States wages war on Iraq… …The biggest chunk of the losses would be borne by the ailing Iraqi economy shedding around $20 billion and the six Gulf Cooperation Council states $68 billion…" [Expired Link]

DRASTIC DECLINE IN NUMBER OF AIR PASSENGERS 
"A number of airline company officials operating in Saudi Arabia have affirmed that the fears from outbreak of war in Iraq had led to decline of the number of passengers by up to 30 percent…"  [Expired Link] 

SAUDI ARABIA VOWS TO BOOST OIL OUTPUT IN EVENT OF WAR 
"Saudi Arabia pledged today to raise its oil production to cover any shortfall in supplies resulting from a military conflict in Iraq and predicted that prices will drop once "the drums of war" are silenced… …Nuaimi issued the guarantee even as OPEC backed away from a Saudi-backed proposal to declare that, in case of war, the group would abolish output quotas and leave members free to boost production…" Complete report...

SAUDI HINTS U.S. TROOPS MAY BE CUT AFTER WAR 
"Saudi Arabia said on [Mar. 12] it would work to maintain its long-standing ties with Washington, but hinted the number of U.S. troops based in the kingdom might be reduced after the Iraq crisis was over… …'The presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia has been longstanding,' he said, highlighting the importance of training offered by the U.S. military. But he added: 'If things quiet down and there is a realization by both countries that there is no need for that kind of operation I suppose it will be scaled down, but this will be arrived at by mutual friendly agreement'…"  [Expired Link]

ABDULLAH URGES BUSINESSMEN TO INVEST IN KINGDOM "Crown Prince Abdullah… …urged Saudi businessmen to invest their funds in the Kingdom with confidence and said the emerging investment projects would benefit both investors and Saudi job seekers… …Prince Abdullah said the government will provide the necessary services to investors to facilitate their activities and safeguard their interests, including provision of soft loans…" [Expired Link]