Crown Prince Abdullah shops for snacks at the Coffee Station restaurant and store alongside store owner Nick Spanos, left, in Crawford, Texas on Monday. (Reuters)

DALLAS, Texas, 27 April 2005 — Monday’s historic meeting between Crown Prince Abdullah and US President George W. Bush was successful in bringing back warmth to Saudi-US relations, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said.

Speaking yesterday morning with editors of Saudi newspapers along with radio and television journalists, Prince Saud said the six-decade-long relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US was based on mutual respect and mutual interests.

Asked whether the Crawford discussions had touched on Saudi Arabia’s domestic issues and reforms, he said the Kingdom’s internal issues weren’t covered. However, he noted that Riyadh would go ahead with its political and economic reforms.

He also expressed hope the current reforms in the Kingdom would help attract American investments not only in the gas sector but to all economic sectors.

“The objective was to revive investment channels as they were before — with the same enthusiasm and dynamism,” he added.

Prince Saud said there was no Saudi commitment to increase oil production from 12.5 million bpd to 15 million bpd.

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi has spoken about Saudi Aramco plans to expand its production capacity.

Prince Saud said the Kingdom was keen on serving the interests of both oil consumers and producers, adding that Bush had expressed appreciation for the Saudi oil policy.

“The US government did not demand anything contrary to the Saudi oil policy,” he explained.

He said Saudi Arabia and the US were close to reaching a WTO agreement, adding that only some technical issues remained.

“For the first time, the US has expressed its desire to resolve this issue quickly,” he added.

He said the talks between Prince Abdullah and Bush had covered ways of strengthening bilateral relations as well as Palestine and Iraq in addition to the situation in the Gulf region and Lebanon and other issues of mutual concern. The meeting also covered the relations of the Gulf countries with Iran.

On the Saudi side, Prince Saud and the Kingdom’s ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, attended the talks. The American side was represented by Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and their aides. Prince Saud also disclosed that Prince Abdullah had held a bilateral meeting with the president.

“All issues have been discussed frankly and openly,” he said about the meeting between Prince Abdullah and Bush. “This time the talks were held in the presence of all aides, and consequently there will not be any difference in understanding what the two leaders had discussed and agreed upon,” he added.

“The talks have brought relations back to normalcy and to the basis of mutual interests in order to build on them. This second meeting was instrumental in renewing their relations with greater warmth,” he pointed out.

Prince Saud reported that there was good flow to the talks.

“There was no break or silence. They discussed one topic after another — spontaneously — as they were dealing with things like old friends meeting together and telling each other what they have in mind and discussing matters spontaneously.”

However, he said discussions on some topics, especially those related to the region and bilateral cooperation, had taken some time as they required analysis and thorough examination.

Prince Saud quoted Bush as saying that he was keen on restoration of peace to the Middle East and establishment of two independent democratic states side-by-side.

“It seems that the US president intends to solve the Palestinian issue step by step,” he said. “Once a step is crossed he will take another step. This is something new, and we have not heard it from the American government before.”

“Even the matters agreed upon could not be realized in one step, and the adoption of a step by step method is more useful and practical,” he said. During the talks, Prince Abdullah called for implementing the road map and the Arab peace plan to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He described the excellent reception received by the crown prince from the US president, vice president and secretary of state as extraordinary. “It reflects Saudi Arabia’s important position on the world stage,” Prince Saud said.

Prince Abdullah has extended an invitation to President Bush to visit the Kingdom, and the date of the visit will be fixed later. Cheney and Rice will also visit the Kingdom.

Prince Saud emphasized the need for exchange visits by ministers and officials of the two countries.

Referring to the Saudi-American Joint Commission, Prince Saud said the panel will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries and focus on bilateral relations.

He said Prince Abdullah’s talks with Cheney and Rice would have a positive impact on Saudi-American relations.

Referring to the crown prince’s talks with Rice on his way back to Dallas, Prince Saud said they had discussed measures related to reviving relations between Saudi and American peoples including dispatch of students from both sides for studies.

“It was one of the most important talks held by a US secretary of state with the crown prince,” he said.

Referring to discussions about Iraq, he said Prince Abdullah had underlined the importance of the participation of all religious and ethnic groups in the political process.

“The Americans have emphasized their keenness on preserving the unity and independence of Iraq and the establishment of a government capable of managing the affairs of Iraq,” he added.

On the Lebanese issue, Prince Saud said the Kingdom and the US hope that the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon will pave the way for the establishment of a transitional government in the country and subsequent elections.

The US administration has welcomed the naming of Saaduddin Hariri in place of his late father, Rafik Hariri, as a representative of Beirut constituency.

As for the support that might be extended by Washington to the project of establishing a center for combating terrorism, he said the US was one of the countries that took part in the counterterrorism conference in Riyadh. He noted that a committee has been formed for considering the idea and presenting the outcome to the participating countries.