Saudi King to Begin U.S. Visit Sunday

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia will begin a state visit to Washington on Sunday at a time when Saudi-American relations are clouded by the Reagan Administration’s decision to delay new arms sales to Mideastern countries.

Fahd, 62, left Riyadh on Wednesday for a private visit to Europe before going on to the United States. The U.S. visit will last five days and is the first by a Saudi monarch in 15 years.

It is regarded here as an important barometer of Saudi-American relations since Fahd canceled two previously planned trips to the United States out of anger with the Carter and Reagan administrations.

Relations have improved significantly since then, but only a week ago there was speculation that Saudi displeasure over the latest arms decision might force a postponement.

A survey of Saudi-American relations published here this week by Fuad Abdulsalam Farsi, a deputy minister of information, made no detailed reference to the question of arms supplies but was surprisingly downbeat in tone, according to Western diplomats.

Focus on Iran-Iraq War

According to Farsi, Fahd’s talks will focus on the Iran-Iraq war, the Lebanese conflict, the search for a solution to the Palestinian problem and what is seen here as a need “for the correction of America’s course of action, orientation and political stand in the region.”

Economic matters weigh heavily in relations between the two countries, with Washington said to be increasingly concerned about Saudi Arabia’s tardiness in paying a number of U.S. firms for work done in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is hoping to win unobstructed access to the U.S. market for the petrochemicals produced by two huge new Saudi industrial complexes, at Al Jubayl and Yanbu.

But no issue in the Saudi-American relationship looms as large as the supply of arms, which the Saudis regard as a test of America’s commitment to its Arab allies.

“We don’t want to interfere in anyone’s affairs and we don’t allow anybody to interfere in our affairs,” the king said in an oblique reference to the arms issue this week in a meeting with American businessmen. “We don’t have an aggressive spirit toward anyone, but we want to defend ourselves.”

The Saudis are seeking an estimated $9 billion in new arms, including 40 F-15 fighters, special fuel tanks to extend the range of the planes, 3,000 surface-to-air missiles, tanks and other arms.

On Jan. 30, Richard W. Murphy, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, told a House committee in Washington that the Administration had decided not to propose any new arms sales to Middle East nations while it conducts a “comprehensive review” of U.S. security interests in the area. He said the review would take four to six weeks.

The announcement came after 30 senators signed a letter expressing reservations about new sales to the Saudis, and only a day after Washington granted Israel an additional $400 million in armaments.

The combination of events was widely regarded here as a new sign of hesitation by the Reagan Administration. Some officials even linked it to Fahd’s visit.

“I won’t say that we were very happy about that,” a senior Saudi official said, speaking on condition that he not be further identified. “The Zionists say that anything sold to Saudi Arabia has to be reviewed. It’s not a fair view. We don’t like the notion that when we get arms it is somehow connected with Israel.”

Stinger Missiles

But the same official noted that the Saudis have not yet been denied any arms that they wanted, even though President Reagan had to invoke emergency powers last year to sell the Saudis 400 Stinger missiles.

The Administration also sent minesweepers last summer when the Saudis appealed for help. Mines had been found in the Red Sea while religious pilgrims were making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

“We have to recognize your system, the way Congress works,” the Saudi official said. “We understand it.”