Saudi Arabia and the United States appear to be on a "damage control mission" following the Pentagon briefing by a Rand Corp analyst terming Saudi Arabia an enemy of the United States at every level of terrorism.
Saudi Arabia has so far avoided any official reaction to the briefing held on July 10, as revealed by the Washington Post. However, senior Saudi officials have dismissed the report as "mere fiction" and far from the truth.
Crown Prince Abdullah's adviser on foreign policy, Adel Al Jubair, was quoted as saying that the analyst's views were pure fiction. "They fly in the face of reality and in the face of history," he emphasized. "Our two countries have been friends and allies for over 60 years and the relationship has gone from strength to strength. To describe our two countries as having a relationship of enmity is ridiculous," he added.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi envoy in Washington, dismissed the report as non-serious. "I think that (the report) is shallow and not honest about the facts. Repeating lies will never make them facts."
In a bid to assure Saudi Arabia that no shift in the US policy towards its long time ally is round the corner, the United States administration moved fast. Secretary Colin Powell telephoned his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al Faisal, telling him that President George Bush and his government did not view them as a potential enemy.
Mr Powell reportedly told the Saudi foreign minister that "the musings of private individuals do not represent official US policy. Neither the presentations nor the Defence Policy Board members' comments reflect the official views of the Department of Defence," a Pentagon spokeswoman was quoted as saying.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "it did not represent the views of the Defence Policy Board."
He added that the account of the briefing leaked to the Washington Post gives a "harmful misimpression, and that somebody then has to figure out a way to correct". However, Rumsfeld acknowledged differences between the United States and Saudi Arabia. "It (Saudi Arabia) has a broad spectrum of activities and things, some of which - just like our country - we agree with and some of which we may not. And yes, it is correct - as somebody said in the briefing - that a number of people, who were involved in Sept 11, happened to be Saudi individuals. "And that there are those issues that Saudi Arabia is wrestling with just as other countries of the world are wrestling with them," he elaborated.
The Post carried a report on Tuesday quoting a briefing to a Pentagon defence panel last month in which Saudi Arabia had been described as an enemy of the US and recommended that it be given an ultimatum to stop "backing terrorism". |
