Saudis want US out

NEW YORK - Saudi Arabia's leaders have decided to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States, to enact democratic reforms and rein in the powerful conservative clergy, reports the New York Times.

Senior members of the royal family say the decisions result from a debate over Saudi Arabia's future and have not yet been publicly announced.

They say Crown Prince Abdullah will ask US President George W. Bush to withdraw all US armed forces from the kingdom as soon as any campaign to disarm Iraq has finished.

Pentagon officials asked about the Saudi decisions said they had not heard of any plan as specific as a complete US withdrawal, according to the Times.

The presence of foreign, especially American, forces since the 1991 Gulf war has been a contentious issue in Saudi Arabia and has angered Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

Saudi officials were quoted as saying the departure of US soldiers would set the stage for an announcement that Saudis - but probably not women, at least initially - would begin electing representatives to provincial assemblies and then to a national assembly.

The goal would be the gradual expansion, over six years, of democratic writ until a fully democratic national assembly emerged. A senior prince said: "After the last shot is fired in Iraq, it will be a good time to say that we have won, and that we both agree there is no longer any need for American forces."

But he said "the real politics of this is to win the hearts and minds of a majority of the people" in Saudi Arabia, adding, "That is the way to really fight terrorism and the bad guys".

- REUTERS

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