Saudi Arabia skeptical about Iraqi government

Saudi Arabia skeptical about Iraqi government
By WARREN P. STROBEL
McClatchy Newspapers
1/16/07

KUWAIT CITY-President Bush's new plan to save Iraq got a skeptical reception from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as Washington's close ally questioned whether Iraq's weak government can rein in sectarian tensions and stabilize its neighbor.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said that Saudi Arabia agrees with the "objectives" of Bush's plan to end Iraq's sectarian violence. But he called Iraq a "morass" and expressed doubt that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can take the steps needed to salvage the situation.

"I think that the duties he has are very heavy," Saud said at press conference with visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who briefed King Abdullah on U.S. policy in Iraq and Iran.

Rice flew later to Kuwait for meetings with her counterparts from six Persian Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan.

Saudi Arabia, which considers itself the leader of the Sunni Muslims, has looked on with growing alarm at the carnage in Iraq and the newfound political power of the country's majority Shi'ite Muslims. It is also unsettled at the resurgence of Iran, which is mostly Persian, not Arab, and largely Shi'ite.

Saud sounded pained as he recalled Iraq's role as inheritor of an ancient civilization. "I cannot for the life of me conceive that a country like that would commit suicide," he said.

Rice later acknowledged doubt among Iraq's neighbors about whether Maliki can fulfill his part of the Bush plan to send in more U.S. troops. The plan calls on the Iraqi government to crack down on Shi'ite militias that form Maliki's political base.

"I do think that there is skepticism about whether or not the Iraqi government is going to do the things it's said it's going to do," she told reporters accompanying her in the Middle East.

Rice's talks in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also focused on Iran. Bush announced last week that the United States will aggressively crack down on Iranian networks inside Iraq and said he was moving an aircraft carrier strike force and Patriot anti-missile batteries to the Persian Gulf to show U.S. resolve.

The violence in Iraq and the challenge in Iran have deeply unsettled the Gulf region, which supplies the majority of U.S. oil, and have reignited centuries-old frictions between Sunnis and Shi'ites.

"It's been a disturbing situation for everybody," said Shafeeq Ghabra, a Kuwaiti professor of political science and president of Jasoor Arabiya, a consulting firm.

"The more Iraq drags on, then at some point it will affect us all," Ghabra said. "You can't have all these situations of war and conflict around you, and not be affected."

Ghabra said he thought Bush's plan was "worth a try," but acknowledged: "I think the Arab world is skeptical."

In Kuwait, Rice hoped to get Egypt, Jordan and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council-Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates-to agree on ways to counter Iran's rising influence.

There are signs that Bush's tough talk and the U.S. military build-up are making Iran nervous.

Beating Rice to the punch, senior Iranian envoy Ali Larijani met the Saudi monarch in Riyadh shortly before the U.S. secretary of state arrived.

Iran denied reports that Larijani had asked the Saudis to mediate between it and the United States. Rice and Prince Saud both told reporters such mediation is not needed.