U.S. Tries To Calm Saudi Anger Over Syria, Iran -- Reuters
(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Monday to calm rising tensions with Saudi Arabia, which has spurned a U.N. Security Council seat in fury at inaction over the crisis in Syria.
Saudi Arabia rejected a coveted two-year term on the council on Friday in a rare display of anger over what it called "double standards" at the United Nations. Its stance won praise from its Gulf Arab allies and Egypt.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal hosted a lunch for Kerry at his private residence in Paris on Monday. U.S. officials said Washington and Riyadh shared the goals of a nuclear-free Iran, an end to Syria's civil war and a stable Egypt, but acknowledged they do not agree on how to reach them.
"We expect they'll have a substantive, a far-ranging conversation about all of those issues, areas where they disagree, areas where perhaps we can come closer together," a senior State Department official told reporters before the lunch.
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Update: Washington attempts to calm Saudi anger over Syria, Iran -- Al Arabiaya
My Comment: These U.S. reconciliation efforts are not working .... and more to the point .... Saudi Arabia is garnishing a considerable amount of support within the Arab world itself and in the Middle East in general. A friend from Abu Dhabi told me bluntly last week that the U.S. is now being given a choice .... negotiate with Iran and work with Russia on Syria .... or risk a realignment in the Middle East as Arab states start to pursue a foreign policy that is independent of Washington.
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