| Editor's
Note:
The
Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service would
like to thank the Dallas
Morning News for permission to share this
article with our readers. The article
originally appeared April 13, 2004.
Sojourn
in the Desert
By
JIM LANDERS / The Dallas Morning News
E-mail [email protected]
RIYADH,
Saudi Arabia - A little more than two months on
the job as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia,
former Dallas oil executive Jim Oberwetter and
his wife, Anita, have found themselves swept up
by a whirl of official duties in one of their
country's most sensitive diplomatic postings.
"I
have seen 20 or more of the 28 ministers,"
Mr. Oberwetter said during a 90-minute interview
at their well-guarded, lavish residence.
Invitations to meetings at the royal palace come
as late as 11 p.m. - a reflection of the late
working hours favored by the crown prince.
"The
word 'fascinating' does not do justice to
this," Mr. Oberwetter says.
Women
health-care professionals whisked Mrs.
Oberwetter across the country to Jeddah the day
after she arrived. Female lawyers and business
entrepreneurs talk with her about women's
rights, careers and family.
"There
is frustration," Mrs. Oberwetter says.
"They are ready to go forward. They are
working in the Saudi way to realize their
goals."
It's a
heady change of pace for a couple who lived a
quiet but active life in Dallas Republican and
social circles for decades. (They keep a stash
of Doritos and salsa in the upstairs kitchen of
the ambassador's residence).
For all
the glamour of diplomacy, however, the
Oberwetters say they are very aware that Saudi
Arabia is a key battleground in the war on
terrorism. A pair of car bombings at Riyadh
housing compounds last year killed 52 people,
including nine Americans. Islamic extremists
emulating Osama bin Laden continue to battle
police in the streets.
The
Saudi government is "making good progress,
but they're not out of the woods yet," Mr.
Oberwetter says.
Long
after 15 Saudis joined four other al-Qaeda
terrorists to smash hijacked airliners into the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Saudis
insisted such terrorism was alien to their
culture.
A
new realism
That
denial has faded among government officials.
U.S. and Saudi counter-terrorism specialists say
the car bombings were a wake-up call that led to
hundreds of arrests and arms seizures.
But
ordinary Saudis talk of the United States with
anger and fear, and complain that many of the
manifestations of the U.S. war on terrorism -
Arabs imprisoned without charge at Guant�namo
Bay, the invasion of Iraq, support for Israel -
have put the Arab and Muslim worlds under siege.
The
Saudi press recently peppered the ambassador
with questions about Saudis detained at Guant�namo.
Mr. Oberwetter replied that some of the 120
Saudi detainees would soon be freed.
Mr.
Oberwetter's first major decision was to issue a
travel advisory authorizing families of U.S.
diplomats and nonessential personnel to return
to the country. Americans are still advised to
avoid traveling here. And the 30,000 Americans
living in Saudi Arabia are warned to be on guard
for car bombs at residential compounds.
Back in
Dallas, Mr. Oberwetter participated in a similar
security process for employees of Hunt
Consolidated Inc., the parent of Hunt Oil Co.
This
time, however, he had to make the final call on
allowing nonessential personnel to return.
"I'm
comfortable with the decision - as of today. But
you'll find no one who believes that something
of a similar nature couldn't happen again,"
Mr. Oberwetter says.
The new
determination to wipe out terrorism inside Saudi
Arabia has led intelligence and law enforcement
officials of both countries to mend differences
that plagued the investigations of bombings in
1995 and 1996 that killed 24 Americans.
"The
relationship is excellent. Information sharing
goes both ways," Mr. Oberwetter says.
"The Saudis have performed well."
Like
many residences in the kingdom, the U.S.
ambassador's abode is a dun-colored,
adobe-styled home, with lush furnishings and
gleaming wood paneling on the inside.
In the
interview, Mr. Oberwetter began by praising his
predecessor, Robert Jordan, who served two years
as President Bush's envoy here in the aftermath
of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Like
Mr. Oberwetter, Mr. Jordan is from Dallas and
lacked experience as a diplomat. Also like Mr.
Oberwetter, however, he has been a friend to the
president and his family for many years. Such
friendships are highly valued by the Saudis, who
prefer an ambassador with a direct line to the
White House.
Mr.
Jordan "did an excellent job rallying our
troops here and trying to keep the relationship
intact, which was deeply strained by 9-11,"
Mr. Oberwetter says. "He is well remembered
everywhere I go."
Reuniting
families
Mr.
Jordan pushed the Saudi government to reunite
children and women with U.S. citizenship
separated from their families back in the United
States after divorce and custody disputes
between Saudi and American parents.
The
issue remains a priority, and Mr. Oberwetter has
already gotten involved in four such cases.
"What
you are dealing with is a conflict of laws in
the United States and Shariah law," says
Mr. Oberwetter. "Often they are simply at
odds with each other."
Still,
he has a positive perspective on the issue.
"No
one has returned to the U.S. yet, but I'm
hopeful that perhaps one or two might have
positive results to report," he says.
High
oil prices and natural gas exploration contracts
that left U.S. firms on the sidelines have also
commanded his early attention. Some U.S. energy
analysts are asking whether the Saudis are
turning away from a "special
relationship" with America on oil.
Mr.
Oberwetter says he has discussed these matters
with Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi and others
in the government.
The gas
contracts went to companies based in Britain and
Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and China.
Irving-based ExxonMobil Co. negotiated a $20
billion gas project with the Saudis for several
years before the talks stalled last summer. The
areas it had under consideration were farmed out
to other companies.
Mr.
Oberwetter says the American shutout resulted
from economic issues rather than politics.
"I
really think it has more to do with what
companies are interested in doing, which is
making good deals where, over time, the
investments offer a return that the companies
can support," Mr. Oberwetter says. "I
don't think it has a single thing to do with the
relationship between the two countries."
James
Placke, director of Middle East research in
Washington with Cambridge Energy Research
Associates, suggests otherwise. Mr. Placke was a
senior State Department diplomat in Saudi Arabia
and other areas of the region.
"I
don't think you'll find anyone in the U.S.
government who'll say it," Mr. Placke
remarked. "I just sort of see air going out
of the balloon. ..Oil is simply not as
significant an element as it has been
historically."
Mr.
Oberwetter says he is trying to get out among
the population, despite security concerns, so
that the U.S. ambassador is seen and heard by
ordinary Saudis as well as government princes
and ministers.
He says
he got his first haircut in the kingdom in
Riyadh at a Turkish barbershop.
"It
is a little different from getting a haircut in
Dallas," he says. "I'm not used to
showing up with eight people who pick out the
chair where you get to sit."
Tough
questions
His
conversations with Saudis - Saudi men, anyway,
given the segregation of the sexes in nearly all
aspects of life in Saudi Arabia - usually take
place at luncheons or dinners.
"After
they get to know you, someone will say, 'Mr.
Ambassador, may I ask you a question?' Then
we're off on issues of policy
disagreement," often dealing with the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Oberwetter
says. "Sometimes the questions are very
tough and very sharp."
Saudi
Arabia is among the countries the Bush
administration has included in its drive for
democracy in the Middle East. One prominent
Saudi reformer says Mr. Oberwetter could be
effective in pushing such reforms - if he does
it privately.
"Say
nothing publicly in favor of reforms. It makes
the reformers seem like they are working for the
Americans. But in private, push them," says
Dr. Awadh al-Badi, director of research at the
King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic
Studies in Riyadh.
"Second,
don't stop pressure for real reforms. If you
ease up, they will stop. And third, remember
your position on Palestine has a high impact on
the people of Saudi Arabia. The royal family is
seen as so close to the United States, but
impotent so far on helping the
Palestinians."
E-mail [email protected]
REPRINTED WITH
PERMISSION OF THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS.
"Saudi-US
Relations Will Remain Strong, Says US
Ambassador"
By Michel Cousins,
Arab News Staff
James
C. Oberwetter, US Ambassador
US Embassy, Riyadh web site
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