Capital visit, capital goal

WASHINGTON: After a month of unpleasantries between two important allies, US President Barack Obama arrives in Riyadh on Wednesday to meet with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit the following day.

The president is expected to attempt to iron out differences that have arisen from the unpleasant tit-for-tat he started during an interview in the Atlantic magazine this month, in which he criticized allies who he said don’t pull their weight and too often looked to the US to provide their security.
Gulf leaders were understandably upset over the president’s criticism of Gulf states as “free riders.”
“I think the trip is to reassure Arab allies that the United States is there for the long run and not cutting and running,” said David Ottawa, a Middle East expert at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
Reports surfaced just ahead of President Obama’s trip that Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir warned the US that Riyadh would sell off billions of dollars in American assets if the US Congress approves legislation that would allow 9/11 victims to sue foreign governments. The measure is sponsored by Senators Charles E. Schumer (New York) and John Cornyn (Texas).
Lawmakers on the Hill have told reporters that the Obama administration is pressuring Congress to block the vill by warning of economic consequences. Secretary of State John Kerry said the bill would “create a terrible precedent.”
During the GCC summit on Thursday, Obama is expected to urge the Gulf allies to do more to fight terrorism in the region, discuss plans for containing Iran and international efforts to stabilize Syria and the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen.
In the global war on terror, US officials often say the Saudis are more helpful in the anti-terrorism fight than the American public may realize.
“Some Saudis believe there is a systematic ‘campaign’ in the Western media to portray Saudi Arabia in the worst light possible, but other Saudis think the onus is on them to contest this negative narrative,” Fahad Nazer, a former Saudi embassy official who now works as a senior political analyst with JTG Inc. told Politico.
Significantly, the US and Saudi Arabia recently unveiled a rare bilateral set of sanctions against people and entities tied to Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba extremist groups.
A White House aide told reporters this week that the president’s agenda in Riyadh also will include talks on the “stability of the global economy” — meaning the price of oil.
A sharp drop in oil prices this year has hurt producers around the globe and although Americans are currently enjoying low petrol prices at the gas pump, analysts say the dip in price has contributed to turmoil in financial markets.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, President Obama will lunch with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Friday, followed by a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in the afternoon. On Sunday, the president will travel to Germany where he will hold a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel before continuing home to Washington.