Saudi Arabia cautions U.S. on campaign

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), OCT. 4. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, today touched down in Oman for what could be the relatively easiest part of his tour of four Western Asian and Central Asian States. Mr. Rumsfeld held talks with the leadership of Saudi Arabia yesterday and though both sides expressed satisfaction with their discussions, there are reports that some of the underlying tensions have been merely papered over. The U.S. Defence Secretary is likely to encounter problems of a somewhat similar nature when he goes to Cairo and difficulties of a different sort in Uzbekistan.

Mr. Rumsfeld, who spoke to the media delegation travelling with him late last night, was reported to have said that he did not specifically request the Saudi Government for the use of the kingdom's military facilities in the anticipated campaign against Al-Qaeda. Senior Saudi leaders, including the Defence Minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdelaziz al Saud, said no specific requests had been made of them either. But the U.S. is known to be interested in using a command and control facility located in the kingdom for any operations that may be mounted over Afghan air space. Given the heavy military investments that the U.S. has made in the Gulf region since the 1991 Gulf War, it is probable that the command and control and other facilities available within the kingdom are superior to equipment aboard the four carrier task forces that have been allocated to the anti-Al- Qaeda operation.

The usual pattern for the U.S. is to isolate the facilities that they operate on a regular basis inside the territories of their Gulf allies from the activities of the regional militaries though joint exercises, etc., are carried out on a regular basis. As such the U.S. could probably use these facilities in the fight against Al-Qaeda provided it did not attract too much attention and publicity. The U.S. would, of course, be in an embarrassing position if the governments of the Gulf States specifically opposed the use of these facilities for the Al-Qaeda operations.

Saudi officials are also reported to have said that they would not like the current campaign by the U.S. to be directed against an Arab country. One explanation for this statement is that the Saudis are worried that the U.S. administration will listen to the counsel of some senior officials and strike at Iraq as if in a continuation of the current operations. Another interpretation is also possible. The Saudis, together with Egypt and Jordan, are also reported to have told the U.S. that their current operations must stop with the elimination of Al-Qaeda and must not extend into a campaign against terrorism wherever it is found.

If the U.S. were to carry forward their campaign to target terrorist groups wherever else they might be found (as senior U.S. officials are reported to have promised India they will do) then there are organisations within the Arab world which may become possible targets. The Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jehad and the Lebanese group Hizbollah are already on the U.S. list of terrorist organisations and Syria is among the Arab countries that figures in the State Department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism. In this context, the Saudi warning that the campaign should not extend beyond Al-Qaeda can be taken as a caution against proceeding against Hamas, Hizbollah and the countries that support them.

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Section  : International
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