Saudi oil fields should be US target, says report

SAUDI ARABIA is an enemy of the US and should be warned to halt its “support” for terrorism or face seizure of its oil fields, analysts told the Pentagon.

The middle eastern country is “the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most dangerous opponent” of America in the region, senior defence officials heard in a briefing.

“The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader,” Laurent Murawiec, a former adviser to the French Ministry of Defence, told the Pentagon’s defence policy board.

The briefing, reported the Washington Post, challenged the official US policy towards Saudi Arabia, which is currently regarded as a major ally of America in the war on terrorism. But Mr Murawiec’s views are believed to carry increasing influence in the Bush administration, especially among the staff of vice President Dick Cheney Mr Murawiec, who now analyses international security affairs for the Rand Corporation think tank, said the US should demand Saudi Arabia stop funding radical Islamic movements around the world. It should also prosecute people involved in the terror chain, including those in the Saudi intelligence services, he said. If it refused, Saudi oil fields and overseas financial assets should be “targeted”.

The only person at the briefing to criticise the anti-Saudi stance was former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Other members of the board included former vice-president Dan Quayle, former defence secretaries James Schlesinger and Harold Brown, former house speakers Newt Gingrich and Thomas Foley, and several retired senior military officers.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the presentation did not reflect the official view of the US Department of Defence. “Saudi Arabia is a long-standing friend and ally of the United States,” she told the Post. “The Saudis co-operate fully in the global war on terrorism and have the department’s and the administration’s deep appreciation.”

The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, told the newspaper he did not take the briefing seriously. “I think it is a misguided effort that is shallow, and not honest about the facts,” he said.