"From today’s Mideastwire.com briefing – On March 23, the Saudi-owned London-based Al-Hayat daily carried in its paper edition the following report by its correspondent in Riyadh Joumana Khoja: “American Ambassador in Riyadh James Smith told Al-Hayat that Saudi-American relations were very strong. He added: “Our bilateral relations have not been affected or altered and they are still very strong. More than 32,000 Saudi students are currently present in the United States and we are in cooperation with the Saudi government over a number of matters, mainly in regard to terrorism issues.”
“The ambassador added saying: “I do not think that anything can affect our ties with the Kingdom. We are still facing together the same external threats and our commitments toward the Kingdom are unchanged. The United States appreciates the efforts deployed by King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz in order to reform and develop his country. But it must be noted that the United States has nothing to do with and is not behind the revolutions that have taken place in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. However, I expect that the new realities in the region will present better opportunities to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the future.”" (thanks Nicholas)
“The ambassador added saying: “I do not think that anything can affect our ties with the Kingdom. We are still facing together the same external threats and our commitments toward the Kingdom are unchanged. The United States appreciates the efforts deployed by King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz in order to reform and develop his country. But it must be noted that the United States has nothing to do with and is not behind the revolutions that have taken place in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. However, I expect that the new realities in the region will present better opportunities to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the future.”" (thanks Nicholas)
