A senior member of the Saudi royal family has criticised comments made by Barack Obama in a recent magazine article, suggesting that the US president’s harsh remarks about the kingdom were a “curveball” in America’s relationship with one of its main Arab allies.
Prince Turki al-Faisal made his criticism of Obama’s comments in an open letter, “Mr Obama. We are not ‘free riders’,” published Monday in the Arab News newspaper. Prince Turki, a former Saudi ambassador to Washington, appears to be the first senior member of the Saudi royal family to publicly criticise Obama’s comments.
In the lengthy Atlantic magazine feature published last week, Obama told correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg that “free riders” aggravated him. The comment appeared to be largely aimed at America’s European and Arab allies who the president felt did not contribute their fair share on the international stage.
The US relationship with Saudi Arabia had appeared to be a particular source of ire for the president, who told Goldberg that “it’s complicated” when asked if the Saudis were friends. In comments to Goldberg, Obama appeared to criticise the conservative domestic values of Saudi Arabia and suggest that the nation would have to learn to “share” the Middle East with its regional rival, Iran.
In his letter, Prince Turki takes aim specifically at the “free riders” comment, listing a broad set of examples of that he believes shows Saudi leadership. Saudi Arabia’s role in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen is cited, as is the recent creation of an “Islamic military alliance” against terrorism. Prince Turki also describes Saudi Arabia as the “biggest contributors to the humanitarian relief efforts to help refugees from Syria, Yemen and Iraq” and makes a pointed reference to Saudi Arabia’s purchase of US treasury bonds “that help your country’s economy.”
Prince Turki writes that Obama’s comments about Saudi Arabia may be because he is “petulant” that Saudi Arabia supported the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt or because the US president has “pivoted” to Iran.
Despite the harsh words, the letter ends on a positive note. “We will continue to hold the American people as our ally and don’t forget that when the chips were down” – such as the 1991 war that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait – Saudi and U.S. soldiers “stood shoulder to shoulder,” Prince Turki wrote. http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1925168/saudi-prince-fires-back-obama-over-free-riders-remark
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