Saudis Back U.S. on Iraq
Continuing her mission to gain the support of key American allies in the Gulf, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Monday claimed backing from Saudi Arabia for a tough stand against Iraq. However, a U.S. request to use Saudi bases in event of military action was left unresolved.
"We see eye to eye on the issues involved," she said after more than six hours of talks with Crown Prince Abdullah at his luxury tent and trailer vacation encampment in a blooming desert meadow about an hour from Riyadh.
Abdullah "agreed with our assessment that the responsibility for this crisis falls squarely on the shoulders" of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, she said.
Albright also told a news conference before departing for Bahrain that she remains skeptical that a flurry of diplomatic activity -- by Russia, the Arab League and others -- would be successful.
There were reports earlier Monday that Russia elicited some concessions from Iraq, but U.S. officials were dismissive. Albright stood firm that Washington would accept nothing less than "unconditional and unfettered" access by U.N. inspectors to Iraqi arms sites.
Iraq later denied the Russian reports. Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Qaysi told a news conference in Baghdad that a Russian Interfax news agency report "stated that Iraq accepted inspection of presidential sites...That statement is totally, totally incorrect."
In a telephone conversation between President Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, Monday, the Russian leader agreed that Iraq's defiance of the United Nations over arms inspections was unacceptable.
Meanwhile, A CBS News poll conducted Sunday says three-quarters of the American public continue to support air strikes against Iraq if the Iraqi government does not cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. However, a similar majority of Americans believe that it's necessary for the United States to gain the support of its allies before launching any strikes. More than two-thirds of the 620 polled approve of Clinton's handling of the situation.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, Albright flew to Bahrain where she plans to meet on Tuesday with the emir. She then has talks in Cairo before returning to Washington.
In a statement Monday after the talks, Saudi Arabia said the two sides were keen for a diplomatic solution "since failure of these means would lead to grave consequences whose responsibility would lie exclusively on the Iraqi regime."
U.S. officials took the statement as an implicit endorsement of U.S. military action against Iraq if that became necessary.
"We consider it to be quite a trong statement," a U.S. official said. "That's an endorsement of our position."
Overall, about 26,000 U.S. personnel have been deployed afloat and ashore in the Persian Gulf, including about 8,000 airmen and 3,000 army troops, according to the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for co-ordinating U.S. forces in the region.
Saudi officials see the danger in Saddam but many fear that if Washington does not hit him with enough force, the resilient Iraqi leader will emerge as an even stronger threat.
A day earlier, Albright won support for a possible military strike from Kuwait, the tiny oil state whose invasion by Iraq in 1990 triggered the 1991 gulf war.
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