US-Saudi ties strong: White House

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon
© AFP/File Saul Loeb

WASHINGTON – The United States and Saudi Arabia are satisfied with the “strength” of their ties, the White House said Saturday, despite recent disagreements over Arab Spring revolutions and the Mideast peace process.

US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon made a one-day visit to the kingdom Saturday which National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor characterized as “positive” and “productive.”

During a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi King Abdullah and Donilon “stressed the shared deep and abiding strategic interests that have served as the foundation for the US-Saudi partnership for decades,” Vietor said in a statement.

“They expressed satisfaction with the breadth and strength of the bilateral relationship.”

The visit followed recent spats between Riyadh and Washington.

Former Saudi ambassador to Washington Prince Turki al-Faisal warned last month that US-Saudi cooperation would be at risk if the United States carries out its threat to veto the Palestinian drive for statehood recognition at the UN Security Council.

Saudi Arabia is also believed to be angered by the decision of President Barack Obama’s administration to distance itself from long-time Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak — a linchpin of US security policy in the region, before he was deposed.

During their talks, Donilon and King Abdullah discussed a “broad range” of political, economic and security concerns, Vietor said.

Donilon also hailed statements by the monarch and the Gulf Cooperation Council urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to put an end to the bloodshed that has accompanied anti-regime protests in which the United Nations says 2,700 people have been killed.

On August 8, the king recalled the Saudi ambassador in Damascus for consultations and called on the Syrian authorities to “halt the death machine… before it’s too late.”