Military

DATE= 11-09-01

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-35547

TITLE= Dateline: Saudi Cooperation

BYLINE= Dave Arlington

TELEPHONE= 619-0720

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Neal Lavon

CONTENT=

INTRO: Several U-S newspapers have been sharply critical of the level of support Saudi Arabia is giving the United States in the war against terrorism. President Bush felt obliged to telephone Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah this week to register his displeasure at the media reports and to reassure the Saudi government that U-S officials believe Riyadh has been cooperating fully with the United States. On this edition of Dateline, we look more closely at the allegations against Saudi Arabia. Here's Dave Arlington.

HOST: You would think the September terrorist strikes on the United States would bring Washington and Saudi Arabia closer.since the prime suspect in the attacks Saudi exile Osama Bin Laden -- is targeting both countries. But media reports continue to talk of strains in relations so much so that Bush Administration officials like Secretary of State Colin Powell keep repeating they are pleased at the backing they've been getting in Riyadh:

CUT ONE - Powell :05

"To this point the Saudis have been responsive on all of the things that we have asked them to do."

HOST: Newspaper editorials this week have viewed Saudi Arabia differently calling the country "a breeding ground of terrorists" that is headed by a government that, they argued, "is not really on our side." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel predicted that Saudi leaders might even decide, in the paper's words, to "court the favor of terrorists by actively moving against U-S interests." Richard Perle, who was America's Assistant Secretary of Defense for international security policy in the mid-1980s, says U-S officials have "largely ignored Saudi policies that have made an enormous contribution to the growth of global terrorism."

CUT TWO - Perle :34

"What I have in mind is the prodigious funding by the Saudi government and Saudi institutions and wealthy Saudi individuals of a particularly virulent brand of Islam that has among its purposes the inculcation of hatred against the West and the United States in particular. And, around the world on Fridays, there are people in prayer, in mosques, financed by the Saudis where the imams are preaching the most poisonous anti-Western, anti-American creed. This has to stop."

HOST: Mr. Perle told a forum sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that U-S leaders should tell the Saudis to stop underwriting a war against the United States. However, stopping the funding of terrorism is not an easy task for Saudi Arabia or its neighbors according to David Isby, a special correspondent for Jane's Intelligence Review.

CUT THREE - Isby :32

"These countries really find it very difficult, despite being willing, to cut off these things. And we see this from our own problem in the United States. I'm sure when Margaret Thatcher asked Ronald Reagan to cut off I-R-A funding he did his best and couldn't cut off funding in the United States. And we've also known about non-governmental, non-regulated funds transfers in much of the Islamic world. Finding the money trail is much harder in a place which doesn't have a long tradition of bank examiners and bank records."

HOST: Some of the media criticism is not aimed at what Saudi Arabia has done . . . but at how quickly those actions were taken. Saudi Arabia did not sever diplomatic relations with Afghanistan's Taleban until two weeks after the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. And it took Saudi officials until this past Tuesday to make the decision to sign a 1999 United Nations convention aimed at blocking the financing of terrorism. Walter Cutler, who served as U-S Ambassador to Saudi Arabia for much of the 1980s, says the Saudis have been the target of what he calls "a barrage of speculation and criticism in the American press." He says such comments might have been expected after it was learned that 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the September attacks had been identified as Saudis. But he says -- on an official level -- there are no strains in Washington's relationship with Riyadh:

CUT FOUR - Cutler :22

"If the press has not recognized this, it's perhaps the fault of our government and Saudi officials in not perhaps saying as much to the media in support of this cooperation as they might. On the other hand, you have to realize, when you're dealing with terrorists, you can't simply make everything you're doing on an official level.you can't make it public."

HOST: The Bush Administration, for example, rarely highlights the use of a Saudi airbase as a major control center for U-S bombing raids hundreds of kilometers away in Afghanistan. And, while British Prime Minister Tony Blair did hold talks in Riyadh last week, the Saudi royal family turned down an earlier visit in what was seen as an effort to show that Western leaders were being kept at arm's length. Ambassador Cutler told me there is a spirit of confidentiality in the U-S/Saudi relationship that leaves some things unsaid.

CUT FIVE - Cutler/Arlington Q&A 3:57

"Cutler: For very good reasons, which I think that certainly thoughtful people here in the United States understand and recognize, not everything that we do together to meet a common threat should or can appear on the front page of a newspaper. So I think there's a lot going on. I think it's very productive and benefits our mutual interests in what we're trying to do against terrorists and in Afghanistan. But we'll try to respect the need for confidentiality.

Arlington: If Saudi leaders are so sensitive about highlighting cooperation with Washington, then Crown Prince Abdullah must have been very concerned to publicly speak out this past Sunday against allegations in the U-S media that his government was not giving the United States the assistance it needs.

Cutler: Well, that's right. He was very forthright in protesting this. And he also acknowledged that the President of the United States, as well as other high officials here in Washington, recognized the basis for his concern and, in effect, said that they agreed that this was unfortunate.that our press in many instances was erroneous.and, in effect, that his protests were well-founded.

Arlington: Some U-S officials themselves have complained off the record that the Saudi government has not moved aggressively to freeze the funds of suspected terrorists and share information about Saudi nationals who may be linked to the September attacks. Do you believe that Riyadh has taken effective action there?

Cutler: Yeah, I do. Was it as fast as Washington would have liked? Perhaps not, but there may be good reasons for that. Some of the dealings in the financial area are very technical. They involve laws. And I think that those involved in this in Washington realize that Saudi Arabia perhaps can not move effectively and as swiftly as perhaps some others who have been focusing for a long time on freezing bank accounts and that sort of thing. But I'm quite convinced that the cooperation now is good.

Arlington: Is much of the money that does flow to terrorist leaders from Saudi Arabia actually hard to block because it's given as donations to Islamic charities and then may be redistributed after it leaves the country?

Cutler: Well, exactly. As we all know, one of the tenets of Islam is to give to charities, to help the poor. Almost all Saudis who have the means will contribute to these charities. I'm convinced that, if some of this money has been going into the hands of terrorists, it has certainly not been with the knowledge of those who have donated it. It's hard for me to imagine that Saudis would be contributing with knowledge that the money would be going to a group that has as one of its avowed goals the complete disruption of Saudi stability. There may be a few, but I can imagine that there are very few who would do that knowingly.

Arlington: What about the Saudi funding of schools around the world that teach the strict Wahabbi form of Islam? How important to the development of terrorist networks has been this funding?

Cutler: Look, we know Islam as practiced in Saudi Arabia is conservative. The school system, I think, reflects this conservative version of Islam. Perhaps people are now beginning to realize that this may, over the long run, and inadvertently and indirectly, contribute to a certain number of people I don't think many but a certain number of young people who might be more susceptible to being recruited by terrorists. And I think, in the long run, it would be wise for all Islamic governments to look carefully at their educational system to be sure this wasn't down the line going to be destructive to the stability of the country."

HOST: Despite opinions in U-S newspapers that say the current crisis places the Saudi monarchy at risk, former U-S Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Walter Cutler says Saudi stability is not a major concern at the present time. Ambassador Cutler says he believes Saudi leaders will be wise enough to pursue economic and educational reforms that will strengthen the country's stability over the long-term. In the short-term, the American news media is continuing to question Saudi cooperation with Washington.and Bush Administration officials continue to say the Saudis have been responsive to every request the United States has put before them. For Dateline, I'm Dave Arlington.