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Obama Arrives in Saudi Arabia to Pay Respects to King’s Family Obama Meets With New King of Saudi Arabia
(about 3 hours later)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, leading a bipartisan delegation of prominent current and former officials to offer condolences for the death of King Abdullah and pay respects. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Obama met with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, leading a bipartisan delegation of prominent current and former officials to shore up an important relationship and offer condolences for the death of King Abdullah.
Air Force One landed midafternoon on a clear, mild day with a brisk wind snapping the American and Saudi flags to attention. The president was greeted by a military honor guard and a cordon of black-robed Saudi officials wearing white or red checkered kaffiyehs. American officials said the meetings were the first official discussions the new monarch has held with a visiting foreign dignitary.
The president spoke with the new Saudi leader, King Salman, as the two walked to a covered area. They turned to face the honor guard as the band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Saudi national anthem. Air Force One landed on a clear, mild afternoon with a brisk wind snapping the American and Saudi flags to attention. At the Erga Palace, the king and the president sat in gold chairs as their meeting got under way.
Mr. Obama, Michelle Obama and Salman proceeded toward a stand by the terminal stairs. Mr. Obama shook hands with a long line of Saudi princes, senior government officials and military officers. Mr. Obama was in Riyadh for only a few hours, detouring from the return leg of a three-day visit to India. Still, the fact that he made the stop was significant, because he rarely travels overseas to mark the death of a foreign leader; more often, he dispatches the vice president, secretary of state or other dignitaries to represent the United States.
Joining the president are his Republican opponent from 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and several veterans of Republican administrations, including two former secretaries of state, James A. Baker III and Condoleezza Rice, and two former national security advisers, Brent Scowcroft and Stephen J. Hadley. American relations with Saudi Arabia were strained by Mr. Obama’s decision not to mount military strikes in Syria against the government of President Bashar al-Assad over the use of chemical weapons. Saudi Arabia has been a bitter foe of Mr. Assad, who has repressed the Sunni Muslim majority in Syria and who has the backing of Iran, the Saudis’ regional rival.
Also accompanying Mr. Obama in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, are senior figures from his own administration, including Secretary of State John Kerry; John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A.; and Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of the United States Central Command, the military unit that oversees Middle East operations. The Saudis are also uneasy about the Obama administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran, fearing that it will do too little to restrain the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons. And they were unhappy with American policy toward the Arab Spring uprisings, especially in Egypt, where they accused the United States of turning its back on a friend, President Hosni Mubarak.
The White House said several Democratic members of Congress are part of the delegation as well, including some who were already traveling with the president as part of his three-day visit to India. Those to join him for the trip to Riyadh include Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Ami Bera of California and Eliot L. Engel and Joseph Crowley of New York. Still, the Obama administration has worked assiduously to try to repair relations with the Saudis. After a pivotal June meeting in Jidda between Secretary of State John Kerry and King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia agreed to join the United States in carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The heavyweight delegation, hurriedly assembled over the past couple of days, highlights the importance that the United States places on its relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just for its ample supplies of oil but also for its leadership in the region and its assistance with intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Joining the president for the visit on Tuesday were his Republican opponent from 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and several veterans of Republican administrations, including two former secretaries of state, James A. Baker III and Condoleezza Rice.
In addition to paying respects to the family of Abdullah, who died Friday, the goal of the trip is for the president and his team to take Salman’s measure and, quietly at least, assess his health. The king, 79, has had at least one stroke and lost some movement in one of his arms. Ms. Rice was also one of four former national security advisers in the delegation, which also included Brent Scowcroft, Stephen J. Hadley and Samuel Berger.
While Mr. Obama has met Salman before, they do not have a notable relationship. But American officials were encouraged that Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister, was named deputy crown prince, signaling a next generation of leadership, because he has a long history of working with the United States on counterterrorism issues. He has met with Mr. Obama at least twice. Senior figures from the Obama administration who joined the delegation included Mr. Kerry; Susan E. Rice, the current national security adviser and former ambassador to the United Nations; John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A.; and Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who oversees Middle East operations. Democratic members of Congress also took part, including Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Ami Bera of California and Eliot L. Engel and Joseph Crowley of New York.
In keeping with that, Mr. Obama’s delegation includes current and former officials who have worked with Prince Mohammed and his colleagues on terrorism issues, including Mr. Brennan; Lisa Monaco, the president’s counterterrorism adviser; Joseph W. Westphal, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Samuel Berger, a former national security adviser to President Bill Clinton; and Frances Fragos Townsend, a former counterterrorism adviser to President George W. Bush. The size of the American delegation caught the attention of many in the region. “It is very obvious that Obama wants to make a point, that ‘We do care for Saudi Arabia, and I have assembled your friends and my foes and brought them with me,’ ” said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and commentator. “It is good, but will it be more than just paying condolences?”
Mr. Baker, who served as secretary of state under the elder President George Bush, said that he believed it was important to show the Saudis how much the United States values their relationship. Mr. Khashoggi said that with so many pressing issues in the region, including civil strife in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, restoring stability would require the two governments to do more than just communicate better.
“This is an extraordinarily critical and sensitive time in the Middle East, when everything seems to be falling apart,” Mr. Baker said aboard Mr. Kerry’s aircraft. “And the kingdom in some ways is becoming an island of stability.” “Saudi Arabia and the U.S. together need a restart for a new policy in the Middle East, because whatever we had in the past has failed,” he said.
He added, “You look around particularly at what is happing in the last few days in Yemen, and you see Saudi Arabia encircled almost on all sides by states that are having extraordinary difficult problems, if they are not failed states.” Several of the former officials in the delegation said strengthening ties with the Saudis had become more important as the region grew increasingly instable
President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen resigned last week in the face of an armed rebellion by the Houthis, a Shiite group backed by Iran. “This is an extraordinarily critical and sensitive time in the Middle East, when everything seems to be falling apart,” Mr. Baker said. “Do we have some problems with them? You bet we do. But we will be in a hell of a lot better shape to handle those problem if the relationship is as strong again as it was when I was in office.”
Since his coronation last week, Salman has given no public indication of whether he will depart from the policies of his predecessor on any major international issue. But analysts say the new king shares his predecessor’s frustration with what many Saudis consider a lack of American leadership in the Middle East under Mr. Obama. Ms. Rice noted that, “It is a difficult time for the region” and said, “I am here to support the relationship with the Saudis.” She greeted the new king warmly with a broad smile and a lingering handshake.
“Saudi Arabia is emerging as the major bulwark against Iranian expansion,” said Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, adding that Iran was trying to expand its influence in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. “There is no doubt that the Iranians are on the move.” Mr. McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the expansion of Iranian influence in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen had highlighted the importance of improving ties. “Saudi Arabia is emerging as the major bulwark against Iranian expansion,” he said.
Mr. McCain, who also traveled to Riyadh with Mr. Kerry, said that he did not expect any major changes in Saudi policy under the new king. “I would be surprised if there is any real change in their behavior,” he said. “Despite the fact it is a monarchy, there is a lot of consensus.” Mr. Kerry greeted the new king with a kiss on each cheek.
The Saudi leadership was alarmed at the American response to the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2011, and it has criticized Mr. Obama for giving up on Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, and for not acting forcefully to oust President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The goal of the president’s visit, in addition to paying respects to the family of Abdullah, who died on Friday, was to take the measure of Salman and, quietly at least, to assess his health. The new king is 79, and has suffered at least one stroke, with the loss of some movement in one of his arms.
The two nations have found common ground, however, in the fight against the extremists of the Islamic State, who have seized territory in Iraq and Syria. They also share concerns about Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s neighbor to the south, where the Western-backed government collapsed amid the advance of pro-Iranian Houthi militants and where Al Qaeda also has an active franchise that seeks to strike both the United States and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Obama said before flying to Riyadh from India that the United States has an interest in a strong partnership with Saudi Arabia, despite its record of repression, human rights abuses and links to terrorism.
Mr. Obama is scheduled to spend only four hours on the ground in Riyadh, long enough for a meeting and a dinner at a palace, before heading back to Washington. But the fact that he decided to go sent a message, since he rarely makes overseas trips when a country’s current or former leader dies. One of the few exceptions was the 2013 memorial to Nelson Mandela. “It is important for us to take into account existing relationships, the existing alignments within a very complicated Middle East, to recognize that we have strategic interests in common with Saudi Arabia, and that even as we work on those common interests — for example, countering terrorist organizations — that we are also encouraging them to move in new directions, not just for our sake but more importantly for their sake,” he said in an interview in New Delhi with Fareed Zakaria of CNN.
In part, aides said, that reflects the fact that few leaders of close allies have died in office during Mr. Obama’s tenure, and they noted that it was fortunate timing that when Abdullah died, the president was already about to head to India, putting him relatively close for an extra stop in Riyadh. Mr. Obama was asked whether he would raise the case of the Saudi blogger who was sentenced to receive 1,000 lashes. He said he would not on this occasion, but that he does regularly raise human rights issues with the Saudi government, just as he does with other countries with undemocratic governments.
Mr. Obama has had his disputes with Saudi leaders, most notably on how far to go in negotiating with Iran and on how to respond to the threat posed by the terrorist group called the Islamic State. But like his Democratic and Republican predecessors, he has leaned on Saudi Arabia for help in the region. “What I’ve found effective is to apply steady, consistent pressure, even as we are getting business done that needs to get done,” Mr. Obama said. “And oftentimes, that makes some of our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated. Sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with regional stability.”
“It will be a chance for us to make sure that we’re in good alignment going forward where we have overlapping interest,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama. “I think you saw the king send a signal that he’s committed to continuity in terms of Saudi Arabia’s approach to those issues. But again, I think we’re well placed to continue cooperation.”