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Developments From Meeting Between Bush and Saudi Crown Prince

Aired April 26, 2002 - 11:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now President Bush gets a stern warning about the Middle East crisis from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, but Mr. Bush says that there were also some positive developments from his meeting with the prince.

Our White House correspondent is Kelly Wallace, and she joins us now with the details.

Good morning, Kelly.

HARRIS: Good morning to you, Leon.

Well this is one of those cases where U.S. and Saudi officials are each emphasizing different things coming out of that nearly five- hour meeting yesterday. U.S. officials, for their part, are saying the session was very warm and very personal. There were lots of smiles and handshakes when the president greeted Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday, and the president himself telling reporters he developed a very strong, personal bond with the crown prince which will help as they discuss the Middle East.

Now Saudi officials are not disputing that, but they are saying that during that meeting the crown prince delivered a very blunt message to the president. The message: if the U.S. does not increase pressure on Israel to end its military offensive, the U.S. could face -- quote -- "grave consequences" in the region.

Now oil prices were fluctuating wildly yesterday at the thought that one consequence could be that the Saudis would halt oil exports to the United States to force some change in the administration's policy in the Middle East. Well President Bush talking to reporters yesterday said he has been assured that will definitely not happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saudi Arabia made it clear and has made it clear publicly that they will not use oil as a weapon. And I appreciate that, respect that and expect that to be the case.

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WALLACE: But here's a quote that illustrates how the Saudis believe there are deep disagreements between the United States and Saudi Arabia. This from Adel al-Jubeir, a foreign policy adviser to the Saudi government. He says -- quote -- "The U.S. thinks Arafat [the Palestinian leader] is the problem, and we think [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is the problem."

So the president facing pressure from Arab leaders to put more pressure on Israel. At the same time, Leon, he has domestic pressure from lawmakers who think he should allow Israel to do what it is doing. So what the president did yesterday, he tried to strike the right balance. He said Israel must complete its withdrawal, but he also said the Palestinian and the Arab leaders must do more to crack down on terror -- Leon.

HARRIS: Kelly Wallace, thank you very much. We'll talk with you later.

WALLACE: Sure.

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