HOUSTON, 24 April — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, arrived here yesterday on a historic mission to try to persuade US President George W. Bush to adopt a more even-handed policy in the Middle East conflict.
Saudi and US officials say Prince Abdullah, the architect of a new Arab peace plan, will not mince words when telling his strategic ally that Washington’s support for Israel, particularly during the latest incursion into Palestinian cities, has seriously strained US-Arab ties and jeopardized US interests in the region.
“US-Arab relations are based on mutual interests, but the events in the region are making it more and more difficult for our moderate friends to have the relations we’d like to have,” said a US official familiar with the Gulf.
“We understand that the violence in the Middle East is leading to radicalization of the people, which in turn is pressuring their governments. The US is putting a lot of effort into ending the violence but we expect the crown prince will ask Washington to do more,” the US official added.
Prince Abdullah left the Moroccan city of Casablanca, where he was on a private visit, yesterday for Texas to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Bush at the president’s ranch tomorrow. His talks with Bush will focus on Middle East peace and ways of strengthening US-Saudi relations.
Prince Abdullah is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Prince Faisal ibn Abdullah, head of the National Guard in the Western Province, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi and Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf. Before meeting Bush, the crown prince will hold talks with US Vice President Dick Cheney today. On Friday, he will see former President George Bush Sr., and meet with US businessmen on Saturday.
Analysts say that Washington’s special relationship with Israel — and the apparent reluctance of the Bush administration to press Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon — has made Arabs lose what little respect they have had for the United States. “Everybody knows that there can be no resolution of the conflict in the region without the United States and there is a hope, a very slight one, that the Crown Prince will succeed in making Bush change his mind,” said a Saudi official close to the crown prince.
Prince Abdullah made a point of consulting key Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan’s King Abdallah and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, ahead of his talks with Bush. “He has a mandate to speak on behalf of all Arab states,” a Riyadh-based Arab diplomat said. “Crown Prince Abdullah has assured President Arafat that he will do his best to bring an end to the Israeli aggression and to find a solution (to the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis) that would uphold Palestinian and Arab rights,” said Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina.
“Crown Prince Abdullah will seek to impress on Bush that Arab public opinion is angry at the United States because of its support for Israel and urge him to end Washington’s alignment with Sharon’s policies,” says another Saudi official.
“The outcome of Prince Abdullah’s talks with Bush will be decisive for future Arab-American relations in general, and Saudi-American relations in particular,” the official added.
