Saudi Arabia Set for Diplomatic Shift Away from U.S.
October 23rd, 2013Via: Guardian:
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a “major shift” in dealings with the US in protest at perceived American inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.
The source said that Prince Bandar bin Sultan had told European diplomats that Washington had failed to act effectively on the Syria crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was growing closer to Tehran and had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed a 2011 anti-government revolt.
It was not immediately clear whether Prince Bandar’s reported statements had the full backing of King Abdullah.
In an unprecedented move last week, Saudi Arabia rejected its first offer of a seat on the UN security council and denounced the UN for failing to resolve world conflicts. The move appeared largely directed at the US.
“The shift away from the US is a major one,” the source said on Tuesday. “Saudi doesn’t want to find itself any longer in a situation where it is dependent.
“Prince Bandar told diplomats that he plans to limit interaction with the US. This happened after the US failed to take any effective action on Syria and Palestine.
“Relations with the US have been deteriorating for a while, as Saudi feels that the US is growing closer with Iran and the US also failed to support Saudi during the Bahrain uprising.”
The source declined to provide more details of Bandar’s talks with the diplomats, which took place in the past few days. But he suggested that the planned change in relations would have wide-ranging consequences, including on arms purchases and oil sales.
Many US economic interests in Saudi Arabia involve government contracts in defence, other security sectors, healthcare, education, information technology and construction.
Research Credit: cgroove69
