Saudis give conditional support to U.S. projects

JERUSALEM – Following U.S. pledges of major new arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday won only heavily-conditioned promises from the oil-rich kingdom to consider attending a Middle East peace conference and to explore opening an embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.

Saudi participation is widely considered essential for any U.S.-orchestrated international conference to be considered legitimate in the Arab world. “We are interested in a peace conference that deals with substantive matters of peace, issues of real substance, not nonsubstantive issues,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said at a press conference with Rice and Gates.

Even conditional Saudi acceptance will force the Bush administration to ensure that the meeting is more than what Faisal called a “photo opportunity.” The Arab world has been highly skeptical of the Bush administration’s level of commitment.

Faisal also announced Wednesday that the kingdom has begun talks with Iraq about opening an embassy in Baghdad, following years of resisting U.S. pressure to do so for both political and security reasons – as have most Arab states. The Sunni-led kingdom has long been wary of taking a formal step that would bolster the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.

During their rare, joint visit to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Rice and Gates discussed arms sales of at least $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and five Gulf sheikdoms as well as $13 billion in a 10-year package of military aid to Egypt.