Bush addresses Saudi relations

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush confronted Saudi Arabia's top diplomat Tuesday over Iraq and other issues chilling relations between the uneasy allies, calling Saddam Hussein "a menace to the world."\nIn an hour-long session with Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Bush expressed exasperation with the kingdom for failing to meet its commitment to provide financial assistance to the new government in Afghanistan.\nBush also cited "crying humanitarian concerns" as he accused the kingdom of dragging its feet in response to children abducted from the United States to Saudi Arabia.\nThe president did not sway Bandar on Iraq; U.S. officials said the Saudis still oppose potential military action against the Iraqi president.\nJust hours before the meeting, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's foreign policy adviser said U.N. inspectors can contain any threat posed by Saddam "without firing a single bullet."\n"There is no country I know of supporting the use of force in Iraq at this time," Adel el-Jubeir said in an Associated Press interview in Washington. "Your allies in Europe don't. Your allies in the Middle East don't."\nStill, Bush aides cast the meeting as a positive development after weeks of tension between the U.S. administration and the Saudis.\nWhite House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the meeting was "a social visit, as well as a business visit" that included a grilled-chicken-and-biscuits lunch and a coveted tour of Bush's 1600-acre ranch.\n"They discussed a variety of issues, including prospects of enhancing peace in the Middle East. They discussed the war on terrorism and Saudi Arabia's cooperation in the war," Fleischer said.\nThe United States needs Saudi oil and a moderate Arab ally in the Middle East, but there are major sticking points in the relationship -- including the kingdom's opposition to war against Iraq, its weak human rights record and links to extremism and perhaps even terrorism.