Saudis tell US they may back Iraq Sunnis-report

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) The White House said today Saudi Arabia shared US concerns about the future of Iraq and denied it threatened to take sides in Iraqi sectarian violence if the United States pulls out its troops.

The comments came in response to a report in The New York Times that Saudi Arabia has told Washington it might give financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in their fight against Shi'ites if the United States withdraws from Iraq.

''That's not Saudi government policy,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.

''The Saudis have made it clear that they are committed to the same goals we are, which is a self-sustaining Iraq,'' Snow said.

''I'd refer any further comments to the Saudi government but, certainly, their stated public policy and the policy that they have shared with us does not reflect that.'' According to the Times, Saudi King Abdullah delivered that message to Vice President Dick Cheney during Cheney's visit to Riyadh last month. The times cited unnamed U.S. officials and Arab diplomats.

Cheney traveled to Saudi Arabia, a close US ally and the world's top oil exporter, to discuss Iraq and how to break the deadlock in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

During the visit, King Abdullah expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, which is largely Shi'ite, the Times said.

Snow said that the Saudis ''share our concerns about the role the Iranians are playing in the region.'' He said any speculation about what Cheney and the king discussed was ''groundless'' because the two have a close relationship and carefully guard the confidentiality of their talks.

According to the Times, the Saudi leader also pushed Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Until now Saudi officials have promised Washington they would refrain from aiding Iraq's Sunni insurgency. But that pledge holds only as long as the United States remains in Iraq, The New York Times reported.

The Saudis have argued strenuously against a US troop withdrawal from Iraq, voicing fears that Iraq's minority Sunni population would be massacred, the newspaper said.

The newspaper cited US officials as saying that those fears have heightened amid the rising pressure in the United States for for American troops to withdraw and calls for direct talks with Iran.

The Saudi ambassador to the United States Prince Turki al-Faisal told his staff on Monday that he had resigned. His resignation emerged just days after Turki fired a consultant who wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post suggesting that the Saudis would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict.

REUTERS PDM KN2325