U.S. Distances
Itself from Comments Calling Saudi Arabia an Enemy State
 |
|
Prince
Saud said the “pure fiction” report was deliberately leaked
to put pressure on Saudi Arabia
|
WASHINGTON,
Aug 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In a bit of fence-mending
after a flap over portrayal of Saudi Arabia as an enemy of the United
States, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in San Francisco,
California, Wednesday, August 7, that Washington believed Saudi Arabia
had nothing to do with the September 11 terror attacks on U.S.
targets.
"Certainly
the Saudi government had absolutely nothing to do with the events of
9-11," the U.S. vice president said during a speech before the
Commonwealth Club of California.
"I'm
comfortable we can have honest difference with Saudis," he added.
Tuesday,
August 7, the United States already sought to distance itself from a
briefing by Rand Corp. analyst Laurent Murawiec to the Defense Policy
Board, a Pentagon advisory board, that portrayed Saudi Arabia as an
enemy of the United States allegedly active at every level of
terrorism.
"It
did not represent the views of the government, it did not represent
the views of the Defense Policy Board," Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said of the July 10 briefing.
"There
was some outsider came into the department, gave a briefing, left and
the impression is left [that the briefing represents] some sort of
policy decision on the part of the government or that there is a view
that is a dominant opinion," he said, according to CNN. "He
had an opinion and, of course, everyone has a right to their opinion.
It did not represent the views of the government. It did not represent
the views of the Defense Policy Board."
Rumsfeld
said the account of the briefing leaked to the Washington Post
had left a "harmful" misimpression, though he did
acknowledge U.S. differences with Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi
Arabia is like any other country. It has broad spectrum of activities
and things, some of which - just like our country - we agree with and
some of which we may not," he said.
"And
yes, it is correct - as somebody said in the briefing - that a number
of the people who were involved in September 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."
Rumsfeld
chose to focus his criticism on the leak of what he said was a
classified, closed meeting rather than on the substance of the
briefing.
"Clearly
somebody decided it was a good idea to take something that was
potentially controversial - I almost said inflammatory - and give them
to a newspaper," he said.
"I
think it's just a terribly unprofessional thing to do, and clearly
harmful. It's harmful in this case because it gives a misimpression
that somebody then has to figure out a way to correct."
From
the State Department, spokesman Philip Reeker said Secretary of State
Colin Powell had spoken earlier with his Saudi counterpart, Prince
Saud al-Faisal, and assured him that the presentation "[did] not
reflect the views of the president of the United States or of the U.S.
government.
"He
wanted to make quite clear that those views ... do not represent the
views of the U.S. government, that these musings of private
individuals are not indicative of U.S. policy," said Reeker.
"As
with any relationship, we have differences with the Saudis," he
added. "We raise these differences. We have private discussions
at all levels, and then we work to resolve them. That's what diplomacy
is about."
The
Saudi embassy issued a statement from Prince Saud describing the Rand
report as "pure fiction."
 |
|
"Certainly
the Saudi government had absolutely nothing to do with the
events of 9-11," Cheney said
|
Murawiec
urged the board that Saudi Arabia be given an ultimatum to stop what
he described as support for terrorism or face the seizure of its oil
fields and financial assets.
"The
Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to
financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to
cheerleader," slides prepared by Murawiec said.
"Saudi
Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies."
The
Post reported that the last of the 24 slides described Saudi
Arabia as "the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most
dangerous opponent" in the Middle East.
If
they don't, it said, "What the House of Saud holds dear can be
targeted." Suggestions included oil fields and financial assets
held largely in the United States.
Saudi
officials and newspapers reacted furiously Wednesday, with the Al-Watan
newspaper accusing the Jewish and Zionist lobby of being behind a
smear campaign.
"The
Jewish-Zionist lobby is employing U.S. political and media
institutions to distort the image of Saudi Arabia [in a bid] to
discredit its peace initiative" in the Middle East, the paper
said.
Saudi
officials said that the country’s ties with the United States were
"excellent in all fields."
Saying
the report was deliberately leaked to put pressure on Saudi Arabia,
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in a statement carried
by the state media, said, "Unfortunately, there are people in
certain departments who try to raise doubts and shake the strong
historical ties between our two countries."
"I
am confident that they will not succeed," Prince Saud said.
"The Saudi-American relationship of friendship and alliance that
goes back 60 years is excellent in all fields."
The
Defense Policy Board, currently chaired by senior Reagan
administration defense official Richard Perle, consists of former top
officials and experts who advise the Pentagon on a wide variety of
defense policy matters. Perle is a leading hawk in the debate whether
to invade Iraq.
Rand,
an independent think tank that does studies for the Pentagon, said in
a statement that the briefing's opinions and conclusions were
Murawiec's and should not be interpreted as representing Rand or the
sponsors of its research.
The
briefing, however, underscored how perceptions of Saudi Arabia have
changed here since the September 11 attacks by suspected followers of
Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, many of them Saudis themselves.
Such
tensions have become more pronounced as Washington and Riyadh pursue
different and sometimes discordant policies on the Israeli-Palestinian
crisis and Iraq.
Saudi
Arabia has emphasized its opposition to the use of its territory for
any U.S. attack on Iraq and the Pentagon has been quietly working to
create alternative facilities in the Gulf to the Prince Sultan Air
Base, where an estimated 5,000 U.S. military personnel are currently
based.
In
recent months, the U.S. military quietly has moved munitions,
equipment and communications gear from Saudi Arabia to a base in
Qatar, reports news agencies.
|
|
|
Israeli Forces
Abduct 30 Palestinians, Kill Youth, Injure Four
Palestinian
Ministers Meet With Top U.S. Officials
Libya Opens Door
to Compensating Lockerbie Victims
Israel to Strip
Hanan Ashrawi of Citizenship
Israeli Army
Arrests 9 Foreign Protestors: Rights Group
Qatar Freezes Charity Sponsorship of 21,000 Orphans
Israel Demolishes Homes, Palestinians: Talks Failed
Saddam Urges U.N. to Honor Agreements, Warns “Forces of Evil”
Occupied Palestinian, Arab Land Is Real Estate Israel Won: Rumsfeld
Jordanian Media Blasts Qatar, Al-Jazeera Over Defamatory TV Debate
Al-Qaeda Is Here, There, Everywhere, Including Iraq: Rumsfeld
South East Asian Cities Compete to Attract Tourist Shopping
U.S. Distances
Itself from Comments Calling Saudi Arabia an Enemy State
Woman Sacked for
Revealing U.N. Links With Sex Trade
Israel Holding
Thousands of Palestinians Illegally: IADL
Profiling of
American Muslim Official Shows Pattern of Harassment: Attorney
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
