WASHINGTON Ñ Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has
cancelled plans to visit the United States.
U.S. officials said Abdullah, deemed as heir to Saudi King Fahd, turned
down a visit scheduled for next week because he did not want his visit to
focus on the growing rift in U.S.-Saudi relations.
"The crown prince is a shy and demure man and he does not want to be in
a position of either ignoring the media or defending Saudi policy on
supporting Muslims," a U.S. official said. "As it is, he's got enough
problems at home."
The officials said Abdullah had been urged by
President George Bush to visit his Texas ranch as part of an effort to improve
relations between Riyad and Washington.
Those relations have been marred by the suicide attacks on New York and
Washington, in which 15 Saudis were said to have participated. U.S.-Saudi
relations have also been damaged by the rising anti-American sentiment in
the kingdom and the relocation of U.S. military assets from Saudi Arabia to
other Gulf Cooperation Council states.
Abdullah, who rejected a U.S. invitation last year, has tried to counter
anti-Saudi feelings in the United States through a series of steps. The most
prominent of them was a proposal for an Arab peace with Israel. The vague
proposal has been dismissed by Israel and aroused opposition in other Arab
states.
Instead, Abdullah is sending Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al
Faisal to Moscow for a two-day visit. The visit, scheduled to begin on
Thursday, is meant to discuss bilateral cooperation as well as Arab-Israeli
conflict.
Saudi sources have not confirmed the Abdullah cancellation, first
reported by the Washington-based United Press International. But the sources
said Abdullah has been furious over what he believes is rising anti-Saudi
sentiment in the United States.
On Tuesday, Congress will hold a special session to discuss the case of
an American woman who had married a Saudi national, who in 1985 was said to
have forcibly taken their child from San Francisco to Riyad. The Saudi-owned
A-Sharq Al Awsat daily, based in London, said this was the first time
Congress has scheduled such a hearing.
U.S. officials said Abdullah told Bush that the April 22 visit was being
cancelled because of the Israeli military campaign in the West Bank. The
crown prince has repeatedly condemned Israeli attacks on the Palestinian
Authority and has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the PA and its
aligned Islamic
militias.
Several members of Congress have called on Bush to freeze Saudi assets,
asserting that they are being used to finance suicide-bombings in Israel.
The White House said it has accepted a Saudi explanation that Riyad was not
supporting terrorism.
On Monday, the Qatari-based A-Jazeera satellite channel broadcast a
videotape of Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden. The station did not say when
the videotape was made but it showed Bin Laden sitting next to an aide,
Jihad leader Ayman Zawahri, who praised the Sept. 11 attacks.
