Tuesday, April 26, 2005
US President George Bush met with Saudi Prince Abdullah at Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas USA Monday. He greeted the prince with a kiss on both cheeks. They previously met 3 years ago at the Crawford ranch where President Bush later said of the meeting, he developed a “strong personal bond” with the Saudi Crown Prince.
A barrel of oil cost $25 three years ago. Today it costs $54. The meeting was to discuss oil, the war on terror and efforts to extend democracy and peace in the Middle East. “This is an important relationship,” Bush said. “A high oil price will damage markets. And he knows that. I look forward to talking to him about that, as well, you now, we’ll talk about his country’s capacity. It’s an important subject.”
The Foreign Affairs adviser to the Crown Prince, Adel al-Jubeir, said that Saudi Arabia has the capacity to produce more oil. According to him: “We believe that the price of crude oil does not reflect the full dimensions of supply and demand. There is no shortage of crude oil in the world today. What we see is a shortage of refining capacity as well as shortages in infrastructures and so forth, that drive the price of product up.”
The US president and Saudi prince talked about the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. “There is a shared vision,” Bush said. “I made it clear to him that I expected Israel to withdraw, just like I’ve made it clear to Israel. And we expect them to be finished.” The US president said Israel must look for a non-violent solution in Ramallah and Bethlehem.
According to Fox News, a senior administration official briefing reporters said the US president is concerned about the instigation of terror actions against Israel. Recently, the Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Britain published a poem saying Palestinian suicide bombers were martyrs.