Cohen: Saudi support not necessary

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia - The Clinton administration has decided against asking Saudi Arabia to allow a U.S. attack aircraft to fly bombing missions from its soil in any air campaign against Iraq, Defense Secretary William Cohen said yesterday.

Arriving here to consult Saudi leaders about a possible air campaign, Cohen said he had decided not to put the politically charged question to the Saudis because "I don't think it's necessary" with other bases and ships available to U.S. forces.

"We have not made such a request, and it is not my intent to do so," Cohen told reporters aboard his plane as he flew to this Red Sea port city.

The decision means that in any air campaign, a strike aircraft could fly from the neighboring emirates of Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as from the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and two aircraft carriers.

Leaders of other Persian Gulf emirates have also indicated their willingness to permit such flights.

Appearing on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation" yesterday, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that while Saudi Arabia publicly stated its opposition to using force against Iraq, the administration still expects to win its backing.

"I have confidence that and trust in the Saudi government that they will support (us) if force is necessary," she said. "... I do have confidence that in the end the Saudis, who have been good allies and friends, will do what is necessary."

Albright added that "time is running out" for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, which was precipitated by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's refusal to allow U.N. weapons inspectors full access to sites they suspect may be used to manufacture or store weapons of mass destruction. But she said that any strike by the United States and its allies against Iraq is still weeks away.

Cohen said he still expects the Saudis to allow U.S. forces to fly support aircraft - tankers, radar jammers and surveillance craft - from their bases, though he stopped short of saying that they had provided explicit assurances they would do so.

Although U.S. leaders insisted the decision will not handicap any military effort against Hussein, it may assume large symbolic significance in the eyes of the world.

In recent weeks, the administration has struggled to drum up explicit support for a strike even from some of its closest allies. Now, the partial participation of America's most important ally in the region could be taken as a signal of tepid world backing for the enterprise.

Many allies, while condemning the Iraqi leader, harbor doubts about whether an air campaign would truly help force him to allow the resumption of U.N. weapons inspections or would set back in any substantial way the chemical and biological weapons program that is the source of the United States' years-long dispute with Iraq.

While the Saudis have declared that Hussein should comply with U.N. resolutions and open his doors to weapons inspections, they have been leery of too close participation in any military strike. The monarchy fears a strong domestic reaction if it is seen to be participating too closely in a strike against a fellow Arab and his long-suffering populace.

As recently as 1996, the Saudis turned down a request from the United States to use its airfields for strikes on Hussein, who was then taking aggressive actions against Kurds in the north of Iraq.

Still, as recently as last Tuesday, when Albright visited the monarchy, U.S. policy-makers were holding out hope that the Saudis would allow strikes from their bases.

The 50 F-15 and F-16 warplanes based at Prince Sultan Air Base in remote central Saudi Arabia, now used to patrol a "no-fly" zone over Iraq, may be shifted to other countries if military planners wish to do so, Cohen said yesterday.

U.S. forces in the region also include F-17 Stealth bombers in Kuwait, B-1 and F-16 bombers in Bahrain, and heavy B-52 bombers on Diego Garcia. And there are about 150 strike aircraft based on the two U.S. aircraft carriers now in the gulf.

02-09-98