Gates seeks to reassure Saudis on Iraq, Iran
Source: Reuters
(Writes through with quotes from U.S. official) By Andrew Gray RIYADH, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to assure Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday that America was committed to stabilising Iraq and to broader efforts to limit Iranian influence in the Gulf. U.S. officials said Gates wanted to win Saudi leaders' support for President George W. Bush's plan to increase American troops in Iraq by more than 20,000 in a new drive to stop spiralling sectarian violence and insurgent attacks. "He said the president is committed to see this through," a senior U.S. defense official travelling with Gates said after the Pentagon chief held talks with the king at his hunting lodge outside Riyadh. "They welcomed this." The United States is keen to maintain strategic influence in the Gulf, the world's most important oil-producing region, with the help of traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Tuesday the kingdom and other U.S.-allied Arab countries backed the plan, but expressed concern about the Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government's ability to deliver. "They really want us to succeed," said the U.S. official. But he also said: "I'm not sure we resolved every doubt in their mind." The United States and Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam, accuse Shi'ite power Iran of interfering in Iraq and fomenting violence there through support for Shi'ite groups. Saudi Arabia fears any early departure of U.S. troops from Iraq could leave minority Sunnis at the mercy of Shi'ite militias and solidifying Shi'ite power there, analysts say. Both Saudi and American leaders are concerned about rising Iran's role in Iraq and across the Gulf. Washington accuses Iran of trying to set up a covert nuclear arms programme to threaten its neighbours. "The secretary was able to reassure them that we want an Iraq that is a barrier against Iranian expansion," said the U.S. official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity. Gates mentioned a decision by Bush, announced last week, to send a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Gulf and U.S. military operations against Iranians accused of fomenting violence in Iraq, the official said. "That was our way of saying 'look, we're perfectly aware of the Iranian problem'," he said. "Most of the Gulf Arabs want reassurance from us that we're there... to help deter Iran," the official said. "The Arabs have various options -- they can look for nuclear programmes of their own, appeasement of Iran is a theoretical option," he said. "The preferable option is that they have confidence in us as... the bulwark of security." Saudi Arabia says Baghdad must do more to reign in Shi'ite militias and end the marginalisation of Sunnis. The United States has urged such moves too but has also called on all regional states to back the Iraqi government with more political support and economic reconstruction aid. Gates' visited shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also held talks with Saudi leaders earlier this week on Washington's new strategy for Iraq. (Additional reporting by Andrew Hammond)
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