U.S. pushes reform on devout Saudis

WASHINGTON (AP) - There are times when Saudi Arabia looks like America's best friend.

The Saudis are far ahead of most other Muslim countries in supporting the interim government in Iraq. They also have taken the lead in trying to recruit a Muslim security force for Iraq to replace the U.S.-led multinational force. The proposal, if it should gain traction, could give the United States a way out of Iraq.

On oil, the Saudis have pleased successive U.S. administrations by calibrating production so that prices don't go through the roof. On terrorism, after initial hesitancy the Saudis have been cracking down on cells within the country.

Yet tensions remain. Many Americans suspect that the Saudis are not doing enough to fight terror, and U.S. dependence on Saudi-controlled oil leads to problems. The issue of political change remains a thorn between the two countries, as the United States wants a more open political system in place.

Overall, the Bush administration has been supportive of the Saudi government because the Saudi branch of al-Qaida is bent on destroying the monarchy, which it considers unforgivably pro-American. Since May 2003, terrorism has claimed scores of lives in the kingdom.

If al-Qaida and its allies are pushing Saudi Arabia from the right, the Americans are pressing the other way, imploring the Saudis to realize that its current system - absolute theocratic monarchy - is not tenable these days.

At every meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell has with the Saudis, he urges reform. He believes a more democratic Saudi Arabia will be far more able to deal with the country's mounting terror problem, not to mention its declining economy. Some analysts say the House of Saud, the ruling family, could be in danger of collapse.

The report of the bipartisan Sept. 11 national commission said change must come to the country that spawned Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 militants responsible for the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

The study said the Cold War taught that "short-term gains in cooperating with the most repressive and brutal governments" often brought about long-term setbacks.

Oil is not the country's only export; Islamic militancy is one as well. The country's conservative clerics have been endowing mosques and schools in Muslim countries for years. Some of these institutions have been spreading a brand of Islamic extremism believed to be behind much of the terror threat.

Bush administration officials were angered last year when Saudi proselytizers turned up in Ethiopia to inculcate radical Islam on the local Muslims. The Saudis arrived during a famine, bringing food along with their fundamentalism. Irked Ethiopian authorities ordered the visitors home.

In some ways, the Saudis are pursuing reform, but Bush administration officials believe that the government may not be able to halt the clerics' indoctrination efforts abroad.

Powell, without being specific, seems encouraged by Saudi reform efforts. Turning up last week in the breezy Saudi port city of Jiddah, Powell told reporters, "Reform is under way."

He was flanked by Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who said there is a broad consensus in Saudi society that reform is needed. "It is the whole country that is working on this issue," Saud said, pointing to the planned election of a municipal council this fall as an example.

Also, moves are afoot to give Saudi women more opportunities for employment. There is expected to be an easing of the practice of barring women from working in shops, part of a broader prohibition on women mixing with men to whom they are not related.

The breakthrough could begin by giving women employment in shops dealing in women-only items such as underwear and cosmetics.

A recent report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, however, says the country can head off turmoil only through deep-seated reforms.

"Fearful of change, accustomed to a system in which it holds enormous power and privileges," the report says, "the ruling family may consider any serious reform a risk not worth taking. The irony is that a program of change offers the most likely path to stability, and the greatest risk would come from doing nothing at all."

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EDITOR'S NOTE - George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The Associated Press since 1968.