U.S. and Saudi officials "see eye-to-eye on the issues involved," she told a news conference after some of the most critical talks during her swing through the Persian Gulf region.
Saudi Arabia, one the most strategic nations on the Arabian Peninsula, is the largest gulf exporter of oil to the United States, as well as one of America's closest Arab allies.
The Saudi government yesterday did not openly back the use of U.S. airstrikes to force Baghdad to allow unfettered U.N. weapons inspectors. But in an oblique statement, the kingdom gave an implicit, if reluctant, go-ahead for military action, saying in a statement: "Failure of (diplomatic) means would lead to grave consequences whose responsibility would lie exclusively on the Iraqi regime, following (its) insistence on noncompliance with all Security Council resolutions."
On Sunday, the prices of eight foodstuffs including sugar, cooking oil and wheat flour were freed from cartels' controls to be determined by the open market. Costs are expected to jump in the short term, before settling at a lower rate towards end of the year, economists say, making it a risky move in a volatile time.
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