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The United States is increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia, Washington's main Arab ally, to force internal changes and a softer line on Iraq and the Palestinians, analysts and diplomats said on Saturday.
The comments came after the filing on Thursday of a multi-trillion-dollar lawsuit by relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks against Saudi Islamic organizations and three top royals.
That followed a Pentagon briefing by Rand Corporation executive Laurent Murawiec that branded Saudi Arabia a US enemy.
Saudi analyst Dawood al-Shurayan said: "Washington is applying pressure on Riyadh to make internal changes to Islamic groups and education and to soften its position on Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
"There is a long list of American demands which Saudi Arabia has not responded to, such as Pakistan or Yemen," on issues related to fighting "terrorism," said Shurayan, an outspoken columnist who runs Al-Hayat newspaper in the kingdom.
"Riyadh is still counting on US-Saudi historical ties, but Washington is no longer looking to these ties as it did before September 11," he added.
"The lawsuit is part of the US campaign against the kingdom. It is no coincidence and it is not far away from the US official eye."
An Arab diplomat said the campaign against the conservative Islamic kingdom was orchestrated by Zionist groups in the United States because of Riyadh's "uncompromising position" on the Palestinian issue.
"I believe the campaign will intensify further because the Saudis are refusing to budge from their principled backing of the Palestinians," the Riyadh-based diplomat said.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is the author of the Arab peace plan, endorsed in March by the Beirut Arab summit, that calls for normal ties with Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's total withdrawal from occupied land.
The lawsuit also carries dangers to oil-rich Saudi Arabia's economic strength, noted Bishr Bakheet, head of Bakheet Financial Advisors, an independent consultancy.
"The West, and particularly the United States, look to Arabs and especially Saudi Arabia as they have oil and huge foreign assets. The target now is the assets," he said.
"The figures of the claims are astronomical. They are equal to the Saudi gross domestic product for hundreds of years. It is ridiculous," he said.
More than 600 relatives of victims who perished at the hand of the September 11 suicide hijackers, most of whom were Saudis, filed a lawsuit seeking up to US$3 trillion in damages from 99 organizations or individuals.
The suit also seeks US$100 trillion in damages from Sudan, where Osama bin Laden, stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994, developed Al-Qaida into a terror machine.
The princes named in the suit were Defence and Aviation Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, former intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal al-Saud and businessman Mohammad al-Faisal al-Saud.
Saudi newspapers responded angrily, calling for a lawsuit to be brought against Washington.
The newspaper al-Madinah said: "It is a case of open financial and political blackmail... by skilled lawyers who are fabricating evidence in an environment that is hostile to Arab culture and values."
The daily also called for the United States to be sued over the killing of thousands of Palestinians and other Arabs by US-made weapons supplied to Israel.
Okaz newspaper warned that the United States was now targeting Saudi Arabia and its people.
"The issue is no longer a media campaign instigated by Israel... It has exceeded the limits of blackmail and pressure to target the kingdom and its people," the paper said.
Shurayan said he believes the campaign reflects a change in US opinion towards Saudi Arabia since the attacks.
"The (media) attacks have not stopped despite continued official denials. Pressure is increasing and we must look seriously to it," Shurayan said.
"We must initiate a dialogue with Washington to establish foundations for new relations which reflect the post-September 11 changes.
"We should have some flexibility in our dealings with Washington. We should make sacrifices on certain issues."
(China Daily August 20, 2002)
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