US President Barack Obama met Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh yesterday ahead of a much heralded speech in Cairo that Obama hopes will help refurbish the US’ tarnished image in the Islamic world.
After an airport welcome in Riyadh, Obama traveled to King Abdullah’s farm where the two men were to hold talks expected to cover the Arab-Israeli conflict, US overtures to Iran and oil.
Shortly after Obama arrived, al-Jazeera television aired a recording by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in which he said the US president had planted seeds for “revenge and hatred” toward the US in the Muslim world.
Bin Laden said Obama was continuing in the steps of former US president George W. Bush and told Americans to be prepared for the consequences of the White House’s policies.
Obama, whose father was Muslim and who lived in Indonesia as a boy, hopes to mend a US image damaged by Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the treatment of detainees.
He was due to spend the night at the Saudi king’s farm before flying to Cairo for his speech to the Muslim world, which will fulfill a campaign promise last year to deliver an address from a Muslim capital early in his administration.
“I am confident that we’re in a moment where in Islamic countries, I think there’s a recognition that the path of extremism is not actually going to deliver a better life for people,” Obama told NBC News before he left Washington.
“There’s a recognition that simply being anti-American is not going to solve their problems. The steps we’re taking now to leave Iraq takes that issue and defuses it a little bit,” he said, adding that the speech was just a first step in a broader dialogue with the Muslim world on difficult issues.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said earlier the speech was “about resetting our relations with the Muslim world”.
Al-Qaeda’s No.2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, urged Egyptians not to be seduced by Obama’s “polished words” when he made his planned speech in Cairo. He said in a recording on an Islamist Web site: “Obama ... is not welcome in Egypt.”
Washington hopes Saudi Arabia will play a moderating role in OPEC after oil prices hit a seven-month high, threatening Obama’s efforts to lift the US out of recession and hasten global recovery.
Obama has said he would discuss oil with King Abdullah and would argue that price spikes are not in Saudi interests.
On Monday, the Saudi Cabinet reiterated it saw “the fair price” at US$75-US$80 a barrel, 17 percent above current levels.
“The king said US$75 would be okay for the simple reason that everyone in OPEC wants US$100 or more,” said a Saudi government adviser, who asked not to be named.
“It’s just to make the point that Saudi Arabia will be able to neutralize Iranian and Venezuelan influence in OPEC,” he said, referring to leading price hawks in the cartel.
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