US troops 'pouring into Saudi Arabia'

By John R Bradley in Jeddah
(Filed: 07/03/2003)

Thousands of American soldiers are pouring into Saudi Arabia in preparation for an invasion of Iraq, independent sources say.

The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, a London-based group opposed to the Saudi regime, said that between 2,000 and 5,000 United States troops landed in the northern garrison town of Tabuk in the last week.

Other credible independent reports said that American forces had taken control of Arar airport, less than 10 miles from the Saudi-Iraq border and that it had been closed to civilian air traffic.

The Saudi government, which is facing stiff opposition to the war at home, has not commented on the developments.

Last week The Telegraph reported that the White House and Riyadh had secretly agreed that American air operations against Iraq could be launched from Saudi soil, in return for a promise that all American forces would be withdrawn from the country after the war.

Some 5,000 United States troops are already stationed in Saudi Arabia, mostly at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, 50 miles south of Riyadh, to enforce the "no-fly" zone over southern Iraq.

In Jeddah last week, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, denied that Riyadh would allow American forces to launch or direct attacks against Iraq from its soil.

In the 1991 Gulf war 500,000 American troops were based in Saudi Arabia to liberate Kuwait and invade Iraq.

The official Saudi line remains that, without a second United Nations resolution, Saudi Arabia will not support another war.

But diplomats said that, despite its grave misgivings, the kingdom has decided that if the United States is determined to take military action it will stand by its ally in the name of friendship and self interest.

They added that the Saudi government believes a war will be shorter and more successful if the Americans can operate from Saudi facilities.

Saudi public opinion, inflamed by Israel's suppression of the Palestinian uprising, is totally against a US-led war against Iraq.

The ruling family is hoping that, as with the Afghanistan bombing campaign, any Iraqi war will be over before the anger among its people reaches boiling point.

But in an open show of support for America, Saudi Arabia has stockpiled 15 million barrels of oil and given a commitment to help meet Jordan's energy needs - for free - if necessary in the event of war.

Oil prices are at their highest for years, with traders fearing war in Iraq may disrupt exports from other Middle East producers, which account for 40 per cent of world production.

Saudi Arabia has more than a third of the world's known oil reserves and has already increased production to nine million barrels a day to ease concerns about a possible shortfall.

It is prepared to go to its full capacity of 10.5 million barrels a day, Arab officials said.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to provide Jordan with 120,000 barrels of oil a day indefinitely, after pressure from the Bush administration to help Amman.

The official said Saudi Arabia would provide 50,000 barrels daily, Kuwait 50,000 and the UAE 20,000. He placed the net value at $1.3 billion and said delivery was expected to begin soon.

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/07/
wirq207.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/03/07/ixnewstop.html