Saudi Arabia

Forgive yourself if you didn’t know that Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud spent six days in Washington last week. Apart from Beltway commuters who encountered his 50-car motorcade and a handful of Foggy Bottom specialists, few noticed that Saudi Arabia’s virtual ruler had come and gone. The low-profile trip generated scarcely a headline, the way the cautious Saudis prefer it. But this was no ordinary visit. It was the third leg of a monthlong coming-out tour of major world capitals to deliver an important if understated message: after three years of uncertainty in the kingdom, marked by terrorist bombings, plummeting oil prices and the continuing illness of King Fahd, 75, Abdullah is taking charge.

After Fahd’s 1995 stroke, the King designated Abdullah as regent, then quickly took back his authority. But while the ailing Fahd officially remains monarch and continues to chair Cabinet meetings when his spirits are up, Abdullah is now running the country’s day-to-day affairs, and his succession is unchallenged.

To the surprise of many, he is emerging as a bold and decisive leader, ready to put his stamp on domestic and foreign policies, though he cannot do so without the daily support of Fahd and other senior princes. The result is a change in presentation if not in policy: whereas Fahd has always been cunning and nonconfrontational, Abdullah has built a reputation for bluntness. Says an Arab diplomat in Washington: “Abdullah won’t say to an American politician, ‘Hey, buddy, let’s talk about buying some of your planes,’ just to make the guy feel good, with no intention of buying them.”

Abdullah is best known at home as a prince of the desert, who has a good handshake, speaks in velvety tones and can be aloof one minute and chuckling the next. Closely resembling the famed founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz (generally known as Ibn Saud), he is fond of camel racing and is tolerant toward human frailties. “He will forgive anything but lying,” says an intimate. He has a reputation for eschewing the country’s endemic corruption; almost alone in the royal household, he forbids his sons to use their connections to profit in business. A devout Muslim, he meets weekly with the religious hierarchy and is popular in the kingdom’s Islamic heartland.

If Abdullah’s reign endures–and he appears to enjoy excellent health, thanks to sensible eating and regular laps across his palace pool–he may be able to defuse the growing fundamentalist challenge to the Saudi monarchy, in part by expanding political power beyond the royal family. He is a strong supporter of the appointed Consultative Council, created by Fahd in 1993 to introduce limited public debate. In line with his distaste for corruption, Abdullah has initiated fiscal reforms designed to end the dubious dealings and royal patronage that have been a prime focus of the growing popular discontent. Besides cutting allowances provided to the estimated 6,000 Saudi princes, he has banned influential relatives from scooping up lucrative government contracts without competitive bidding.

In a more startling move while in Washington last week, the Crown Prince met with executives from U.S. oil companies that were driven out two decades ago when the industry was nationalized. Abdullah invited them to return to help develop petroleum resources, a move that would provide new investment in cash-strapped times and bolster Riyadh’s strategic ties to Washington.

Abdullah is not without foreign policy experience. Since 1962 he has headed the National Guard, the country’s 60,000-strong force of fighters that has relied on American advisers since 1975. Although the Prince had initial reservations in 1990 when the Bush Administration asked to deploy 500,000 troops in the kingdom during the Gulf War, he shows no inclination to kick out the 5,000 who still remain on Saudi soil.

In his meetings with world leaders, Abdullah has been signaling that he intends for his country to play a more assertive foreign role. Saudi Arabia wants to interest itself in the frequently faltering Arab-Israeli peace talks–and not necessarily to the delight of American policymakers. In drafting a joint communique two weeks ago, Abdullah insisted on making a symbolic point about Arab rights in Jerusalem.

Earlier this year Abdullah showed similar forthrightness in repairing relations with Iran, poisoned since 1987 when Iranian pilgrims clashed with Saudi police in Mecca and 402 people were killed. He attended an Islamic summit in Tehran last December and recently welcomed former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to Riyadh.

Such moves have set some U.S. officials to grumbling that Abdullah is anti-American, but the Prince is at pains to stress his commitment to the long-standing Saudi-American partnership, and he supports other U.S. positions in the region. Although he speaks emotionally of Iraq’s suffering under U.N. sanctions, he places the blame where Clinton does–squarely on Saddam Hussein. On the eve of his Washington visit, Abdullah took a step that delighted U.S. officials: he cut Saudi relations with the fundamentalist Taliban rulers in Afghanistan, who have given haven to suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. The reason, Abdullah explained, was that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar broke three promises he had made to Riyadh to expel or extradite the exiled Saudi fundamentalist accused by the U.S. of masterminding global terror.

Even if they are pleasantly impressed by Abdullah, many in Washington will continue to yearn for King Fahd. He was a monarch who seldom wavered in his friendship and almost never spoke out against the U.S., while Abdullah will more readily express Arab frustration with American policies such as support for Israel and the unilateral bombing of suspected terrorist facilities. “Under Fahd, we had a ‘special relationship,'” says a Saudi official. “Now we may have ‘special differences.'”

Is that a bad thing? “Abdullah will be expressing Saudi interests more forcefully,” says a former U.S. official in Riyadh. “That will be good for Saudi Arabia.” If a bolder approach ends the recent drift in the kingdom, it may be a good thing for the U.S. too.