US troop move out of Saudi paves way for more critical relationship

WASHINGTON (AFP) May 01, 2003
The US decision to move its Gulf headquarters out of Saudi Arabia to Qatar marks a new phase in the two countries' relationships, which may both reduce internal tensions in the Gulf kingdom and allow Washington to criticize the Saudis on issues like human rights and democracy, analysts said.

The US military presence at Prince Sultan Air Base has become an increasing bone of contention between the two countries, and the US move to Qatar will take place this summer.

Saudi-born terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden had called the US "infidel" presence in the country a provocation against Muslims, and Muslim clerics, or ulemas, expressed outrage that US bases in the country could be used in the invasion of fellow Arab nation Iraq.

At the same time, US officials have found it increasingly difficult to mask their displeasure at perceived Saudi policies of turning a blind eye towards those suspected of financing terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda.

Last November, for example, relations took a blow when it was alleged that the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the US had unknowingly provided financial assistance to a person who may have had ties to terrorist organisations.

For its part Riyadh insisted the donations were made to a purely charitable organisation.

Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Hermann Eilts said the US withdrawal will be "helpful" to the Saudi authorities seeking to keep a lid on popular opposition to the US presence in the country.

"The Saudi government will be able to handle more effectively internal pressure which has been very strong against the presence of the base," he said.

Eilts, who is now a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted though that the United States will retain a military presence in Saudi Arabia after the transfer to Qatar, as has been the case since 1949.

The move "will in fact create a new relationship between both countries... the relationship can go to more normal things," such as bilateral trade relations, he said.

The New York Times Wednesday, however, cited concerns among Congress members "... whether Saudi Arabia can continue to serve as a lynchpin of American policy in the Persian Gulf while fundamentalism there continues to breed a fringe culture of jihad, or holy war, against America and the West."

Nevertheless, Eilts maintains that "today the relationship is a correct one, it will remain correct, and it has never really been that intimate."

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