Clinton Tells Saudis of U.S. Resolve

President Clinton told a high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that he is determined to do whatever is necessary to protect U.S. forces in the desert kingdom from the sort of terrorist bombing that killed 19 Air Force personnel last year as they slept in their barracks in Dhahran.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, who told reporters of Clinton’s assertion, supplied no details about increased security precautions.

But the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh urged Americans living in the kingdom to be especially diligent because of fresh evidence that U.S. citizens may become targets for terrorist groups.

Clinton met at the White House with a delegation headed by Prince Sultan ibn Abdulaziz, third in line for the throne and longtime defense minister, for talks that both countries said solidified their generally warm relationship, despite Washington’s growing concern about security in the oil-rich kingdom.

McCurry said Clinton “stressed his determination to protect the security of American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, and they discussed our cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”

In brief remarks to reporters as he left the White House, Sultan said he reassured the president that Saudi investigators are making good progress in solving the bombing at the Khobar Towers barracks. He said that he renewed Saudi pledges to share information about the inquiry with the FBI, which has complained in the past that it was being kept in the dark.

Speaking in Arabic, which was translated by his son, Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar, Sultan said that he sensed a “positive response” from the president.

A few hours before the meeting began, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Dhahran and Jidda began broadcasting a warning over telephone “hot lines” that provide recorded messages for U.S. citizens.

“Planning for terrorist action against U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia continues unabated,” the message said, referring specifically to threats made in a British television interview by Osama ibn Laden, an exiled Saudi millionaire living in Afghanistan who has vowed to drive Americans out of the birthplace of Islam.

The message said Ibn Laden “not only threatened again the U.S. military in Saudi Arabia but also called for the expulsion of American civilians.”

“These statements and reports reinforce the embassy’s view of the need for the private American community in Saudi Arabia to heighten its vigilance and alertness,” it added.

U.S. officials said the situation will be especially dangerous during the Haj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that begins in mid-April, because the millions of visitors could provide an effective screen for terrorists and tax the kingdom’s security forces.

Saudi officials in Washington expressed concern that security issues would overshadow the visit by one of the highest-level delegations the kingdom has sent to the United States in years. Besides Sultan, who ranks third in the kingdom behind the ailing King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, the delegation included the kingdom’s foreign, oil, commerce and deputy finance ministers.

A Saudi diplomat said the Saudis hope the meeting will set the tone for relations during Clinton’s second term on such topics as oil prices, U.S.-Saudi military cooperation and the Middle East peace process.

“I would like to reaffirm the especially strong relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia,” Sultan said. McCurry declared: “U.S.-Saudi relations are strong and will remain so.”

In contrast to most diplomatic missions, which begin with talks at a lower level and build to a meeting at the White House, Sultan started his visit with Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Today he is to confer with Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Thursday with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Saudi officials said the kingdom is seeking U.S. permission to sell 112 quarter-century-old F-5 warplanes to help finance the purchase of newer jet fighters, possibly U.S. F-16s. But Sultan said the issue did not come up during Tuesday’s talks.