President Obama In Saudi Arabia For Talks
KABUL: (MEP) President Barack Obama on Wednesday arrived in Saudi Arabia where he held talks with the Kingdom’s king amid rising tensions between the two wealthy nations.
Mr. Obama may try to use his visit to mend relations, but it remains unclear how badly the ties that have long bound the United States and the Saudi monarchy have weakened, and whether the damage can be repaired.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and a number of high-ranking officials accompanying Obama in his trip.
Mr Carter said they would be seeking help with military and naval operations to counter Iran’s “destabilising activities” in the region.
The visit comes at a time when the 71-year-old alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia is under strain, with some of the frustration spilling over into public comments on both sides.
“It is a concerning factor for us if America pulls back,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, an outspoken member of the Saudi royal family, a former head of intelligence and a former ambassador to the United States. “America has changed, we have changed and definitely we need to realign and readjust our understandings of each other.”
The 9/11 terror attacks
The White House on Tuesday all but threatened to veto a bill in Congress that would allow a lawsuit to proceed against the Saudi government for any role it may have played in Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Obama has said such a lawsuit would open the door to a multitude of lawsuits against U.S. officials and members of the military working abroad.
Family members of 9/11 victims in a letter Tuesday blasted Obama for his stance. “It is not acceptable … to succumb to the demands of a foreign government that we abandon principles of American justice,” the letter said, according to the Associated Press.
Saudi Arabia threatened to sell up to $750 billion worth of U.S. assets if Congress passes the bill. Such a move would jeopardize “the stability of the global financial system,” Earnest has said.
The official 9/11 Commission concluded that senior Saudi officials did not knowingly support the plotters, and since then, “we have seen the Saudi government focus more intently on combating and countering those who propagated extremist ideology,” he said.
The two officials discussed a range of issues related to mutual security interests, including ways to counter extremist groups like (ISIL), Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.
“Carter identified several areas where the United States and Saudi Arabia can deepen their security cooperation for the benefit of both countries, such as enhancing training for special operations and counterterrorism forces, integrating air and missile defense systems, bolstering cyber defenses, and strengthening maritime security,” Cook said.
