Don't tie Bush's hands on Iraq: Saudi envoy to US

Washington, Jan 19: A vote by the US Congress limiting the number of American troops that could be deployed in Iraq would send the wrong signal to the West Asia and make people wonder if President George W Bush's authority has been weakened, Saudi Arabia's outgoing envoy to Washington said.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former long-time Saudi intelligence chief who is about to retire after just over one year as envoy to Washington, also warned the United States against military action to set back Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying the consequences would be ''catastrophic.'' Both the newly Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives and Senate are planning symbolic, but politically important, resolutions rejecting Bush's plans to send about 21,500 more US troops to Iraq to try to stabilise Baghdad and Anbar province.

With polls showing most Americans disapprove of the troop increase, the non-binding resolutions would force Republicans to reveal publicly where they stand on Bush's strategy and could further isolate the White House.

''I think it would send the wrong signal and make more people question whether the president has the authority,'' Turki told a dinner on Wednesday night hosted by the New America Foundation thinktank and the UN Foundation, a private group that supports the work of the United Nations.

''Already people (in the West Asia) are gauging the effects of the (November 2006) elections as eroding the president's authority in the United States and ... are waiting to see how that erosion is going to be manifested in what the president can or cannot do,'' he said.

Saudi Arabia this week joined other Arab allies in backing Bush's new plan to reverse the downward spiral of violence and chaos in Iraq.

Turki acknowledged the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, which is key to success in Iraq, had not met expectations. But he warned against setting benchmarks for Maliki to achieve specific objectives, saying ''no government can live with benchmarks mandated by an outside power.'' Turki said Riyadh is not aiding Sunni insurgents in Iraq but agreed with the United States that there has been Iranian intervention, which Tehran denies. Saudi King Abdullah has accused Iran of not playing a constructive role in Iraq and promised to continue monitoring its behavior, Turki said.

The Bush administration last week toughened its approach, detaining what it said were Iranian operatives in Iraq, intensifying a crackdown on Iranian banks and raising new fears Washington may be considering military action against Iran's nuclear sites.

Turki said Riyadh has two nightmare scenarios -- that Iran develops a nuclear weapons, and that the United States takes military action against it.

''In both of these circumstances, the kingdom sees the consequences as -- to say the least -- catastrophic,'' he said.

Asked if he could see an opening to break a decades-long stalemate in US-Iran contacts, Turki said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told him he (Talabani) had made had an effort in the past year to negotiate ''some kind of a dialogue'' between the two adversaries.

''Twice that dialogue almost came to fruition .... but each time both sides found something to take umbrage with and move back,'' the envoy said.

Although some Iranians want to sabotage any chance at talks, others would be willing to negotiate with Washington but ''it would have to be a very sensitive and very secret first step to break the ice,'' he said.

Turki rejected predictions that the Iraq morass would cause the United States to lose clout in the region and said he has ''no worries'' that Shi'ites who now lead Iraq's government would become the dominant sect.

REUTERS

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