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CNN Live At Daybreak

Some Discontent Brews Between Saudi Arabia, U.S.

Aired January 30, 2002 - 06:06   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now some of the other issues raised by President Bush include conservation, technology, and oil.

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GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This Congress must act to encourage conversation, promote technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at home so America is less dependent on foreign oil.

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COSTELLO: And the country that controls most of the world's oil supply is, of course, Saudi Arabia.

CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel reports there are some discontent between the kingdom and Washington.

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ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: As the de facto ruler of one of United States' closest Arab allies, when Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah grants an interview to two prominent U.S. newspapers, people listen. Call it a media megaphone. The intended audience: The American public.

In the current environment of almost daily violence between the Palestinians and Israelis, Abdullah said, the Saudis find it very difficult to defend America, and so we keep our silence. In his interview, Abdullah also warns Washington it has a duty to follow with conscience, to reject repression of the Palestinian people.

WYCHE FOWLER, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: The issue in the Middle East is the tremendous fear that there will be a regional war, that this violence, if not checked, will spill out and involve Egypt and all the Gulf states, and can not be contained.

KOPPEL: At the White House, officials there dismissed Saudi criticism, implying when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the two sides would have to agree to disagree. In the Saudi kingdom, a public rebuke of the U.S. is almost as rare as interviews with members of the Royal family.

In recent days, other senior Saudi officials have also publicly criticized U.S. policy toward Yasser Arafat, called for the repatriation of about 100 Saudi prisoners in Guantanamo, Cuba, and anonymously declared the U.S. military may have overstayed its welcome at Prince Sultan Air Base. A sentiment echoed on the U.S. side by Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: I felt for some time that we should be considering other alternatives to Saudi Arabia.

KOPPEL: That's something the Bush administration says won't happen any time soon. The Saudis are, after all, gatekeepers to the world's largest oil reserves.

(on camera): No one thinks the U.S.-Saudi relationship is on the verge of a major overhaul. The Saudis are venting their frustration to the American media because they say they've been forced to endure months of bad press. False allegations, they claim, they've been uncooperative in the U.S.-led war against terrorism.

The bottom line is that more than a decade after this relationship was forged on a common goal to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein, it now appears the U.S. and Saudis have quite different priorities.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.

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