US to sell Saudis €13bn arms package

America announced a huge €13bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia as President George Bush arrived for his first visit to the kingdom today.

It intends to sell a package of weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to the Saudis as part of US strategy to bolster the defences of Arab allies against threats from Iran.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, which have majority Sunni Muslim populations, are suspicious about Shiite Iran’s apparent aim to establish itself as a major power.

The US president, who flew to Riyadh from Dubai on his eight-day Middle East trip, was granted the privilege of staying King Abdullah’s home.

The king greeted Mr Bush at the base of the steps of Air Force One. A band played each country’s national anthem as the leaders walked on a red carpet behind a high-stepping uniformed officer carrying a gold sword. In the airport terminal, the president shook hands with a long procession of robed men and military officers.

Earlier, in Dubai, Mr Bush got a flavour of the cosmopolitan banking and business hub, whose glass skyscrapers and booming construction have turned it into the capital of Middle East bustle.

The soaring Persian Gulf city-state was his second stop in the seven-state United Arab Emirates federation, following his gentle lecture on democracy in Abu Dhabi and an opulent picnic at a desert horse camp Sunday.

On a day of cultural diplomacy, Mr Bush began with a stop at the historic home of the former ruler of Dubai, now a museum loaded with photos and artefacts of the emirate’s history.

Mr Bush then had lunch with students of the Dubai School of Government, a research and teaching institution that focuses on public policy in the Arab world. The president and his hosts sat on cushions, set in a circle, their food in bowls on the carpeted floor before them.

The session was held in a conference room on top of one of Dubai’s signature buildings, a luxury hotel shaped like a tall ship sail. The Burj Al Arab occupies its own manmade island.

Dubai, concerned about being a target for Islamic extremist terrorism that has hit other nations in the oil-rich region, has installed one of the world’s most comprehensive homeland security and anti-terrorism systems.

Many anti-terror analysts believe the threat in Dubai is growing fuelled by the city’s image as a bastion of Western-style capitalism and nightlife, its new status as home to the world’s tallest building and the frequent port calls by US Navy ships.

Dubai has a powerful Iranian business community, and the West, led by the United States, is cracking down on business in and out of Iran to protest against its nuclear ambitions. Dubai is caught in the middle eager to maintain its lucrative business with Iran, but wary of angering the United States and the United Nations.