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CNN Live Saturday

Cheney Visits Saudi Arabia

Aired March 16, 2002 - 17:15   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President Dick Cheney is in Saudi Arabia today, the sixth stop on his 12-nation coalition building tour. Cheney is meeting tonight with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to discuss, among other things, the status of Iraq. CNN senior White House correspondent John King explains the challenges Cheney faces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This rare glimpse of the ailing King Fahd is testament to Vice President Dick Cheney's stature here in Saudi Arabia. As defense secretary in the first Bush administration a dozen years ago, Mr. Cheney helped evict Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army from neighboring Kuwait.

But this welcoming ceremony is a reminder times are changing. Crown Prince Abdullah runs the country's day-to-day affairs now, told Mr. Cheney Saudi Arabia could not support another U.S. military confrontation with Iraq. That presumably means Saudi air bases would be off-limits to U.S. warplanes.

The crown prince warned such a showdown would stoke anti-American sentiment across the Arab world, and told Mr. Cheney, in Saudi Arabia's view, it is far more urgent that the United States try to end 18 months of deadly Israeli/Palestinian violence.

White House aides declined to characterize Saturday's discussions, except to say part of the vice president's mission here is to judge whether the public criticism from Crown Prince Abdullah and other Arab leaders tell the full story.

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: There is a long record in diplomacy, particularly in the Middle East, I think it's fair to say where people say one thing in public and another thing to you in private.

KING: Iraq isn't the only pressure point in U.S.-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia is a major source of terrorist financing, and Mr. Cheney is appealing for more help.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: We can't cut off the financing of these groups. We have to have the help of some of these governments, and the Saudis are critically important here. And I think they have not been fully cooperative at that point.

KING: The vice president began his day in Oman. Shoes removed, he toured the breathtaking Grand Mosque in Muscat, a way to make the administration's case this is a war against terrorists, not Islam.

But even here, reminders of the difficult diplomacy and the skepticism in this region to what President Bush labels the axis of evil. A collection of Muslim artwork and artifacts from Iraq, and it took four years to make this giant, 22-ton carpet from Iran.

(on camera): The vice president's history in the region hardly is enough to overcome deep Arab opposition to a U.S. military confrontation with Iraq. But Top U.S. officials say Mr. Cheney's presence here removes any doubt about the administration's resolve, and begins a series of difficult consultations likely to run several months.

John King, CNN, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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