 RIYADH, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said there was no truth in an article by a Saudi security adviser suggesting the world's top oil exporter would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict.
| "He's talking out of his head! Needs a drive in the desert, that boy does!" |
Nawaf Obaid, a security adviser to the Saudi grand high poobah government, said on Wednesday the kingdom would intervene with funding and weaponry to prevent Shi'ite militias attacking Iraq's Sunnis once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq. He also suggested Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, could bring down world oil prices to squeeze Shi'ite power Iran, which Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab countries accuse of meddling in Iraq.
| Um, oh, okay, gee yeah, lower oil prices for a while. I dare you. See how easy it is to fund the overseas madrassahs. |
Saudi state news agency SPA issued a statement on Friday attributed to an "official source" who rejected Obaid's ideas.
"There is no basis in truth to the article by the writer Nawaf Obaid in the Washington Post of Nov. 29, 2006," it said. "The writer does not represent any official body in Saudi Arabia. What he published only represents his personal opinion and does not in any manner at all represent the policy or positions of the kingdom," it added.
"(Saudi Arabia) continually affirms its support for the security, unity and stability of Iraq, with all of its sectarian groups."
| With the ones they favor on top, of course. |
Obaid stressed in the article that the views were his own and not those of the Saudi government.
"I know this article doesn't represent Saudi policies," said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday. "I am in contact with the Saudi government and they realise the necessity of protecting the democratic process."
| And you can always a trust a Saoodi royal when they tell you something face-to-face, it's part of their culture. |
A Western diplomat in Riyadh said the official denial confirmed diplomats' belief that the substance of Obaid's article does not reflect Saudi policy. He said at most the article may have been intended as a "warning".
| In that case, it worked well. |
Diplomats say Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, is worried that Washington has lost control of Iraq and developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Arab governments say is driving Islamic extremism and anti-U.S. sentiment in the region.
Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian violence is threatening to descend into a full-scale war in Iraq, which Saudi Arabia fears could spill over onto its borders. Saudi Arabia has a Shi'ite minority, and some Saudi Sunni militants have gone to Iraq to join insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed Baghdad government. Saudi willingness to back Sunnis has been tempered by fear of al Qaeda militants in the Sunni insurgency who also oppose the Saudi government. |