The strong relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America go far beyond US relations with the other states of the region. In the wake of the British decision in 1968 to withdraw from east of Suez, the US placed Saudi Arabia at the center of a network of alliances in the region.

The US sought to cement Saudi-American relations by realizing the Kingdom's influential position in the Arab and Islamic world. Despite growing Arab and Muslim enmity toward everything American, the Saudis have remained loyal in their commitment to the US and determined to continue both friendship and alliance.

Instead of weakening the determination after the founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi-US relations were strengthened, especially after the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. Never before have the American administration or its foreign policy advisors doubted the importance of the Saudi-American alliance.

The role played by the Kingdom in the liberation of Kuwait in 1990-91 was undoubtedly the most vital. Despite initial US and British skepticism about the Kingdom's cooperation, the Kingdom opened its territories for Desert Storm and its operations against Iraq.

The Kingdom's enemies and Saddam's supporters were opposed to the move and used such arguments as the sacred lands were being trampled on by non-Muslim soldiers.

True to its Arab values and loyal to its commitments, Saudi Arabia provided all logistic facilities for coalition forces until Saddam had been defeated and Kuwait liberated.

The strong relations between the Kingdom and the US continued relatively undisturbed by either regional or international upheavals until Sept. 11.

There is no lasting friendship, so the saying goes, in international relations. In the eyes of much of the US, a close friend and ally became an enemy overnight. Since September the media has unleashed a barrage of virulent attacks against the Kingdom.

The hate campaigns have not spared even the Kingdom's domestic policies. Many victims of humiliating searches and arbitrary detentions were Saudi.

An absurd principle, followed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is that since Bin Laden was formerly a Saudi citizen, all Saudis are Al-Qaeda collaborators or at least Al-Qaeda sympathizers. This ruinous approach has wreaked havoc with the two countries' relations.

Now the question is whether the relations can regain their old warmth. The US attitude seems to be that the Kingdom's views which differ from US ones is a stumbling block to normalizing relations.

Another strong indication against the resumption of normal relations is the recent Rand Corporation report.

How can US officials suddenly put a close ally such as the Kingdom into the enemy camp?

One wonders what the Saudi government and public have done to deserve such treatment. If it is because of the Saudi refusal to agree to the US plan to attack Iraq, will the US leaders who disagree with the plan also be considered anti-American?

The Saudi stand on this issue is no different from any other Arab countries, including Kuwait.

All Muslim countries, non-aligned nations and even the European Union believe that an attack on Iraq will ultimately be against the Iraqi people who have suffered too long and who would continue to suffer.

(The writer is professor of international relations at Kuwait University)

21 August 2002