May 14, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424

LONDON: The suicide bombings in Riyadh sent a harsh message to Saudi rulers that an American troop withdrawal has not mollified militants bent on destabilizing the world’s biggest oil exporter.

Analysts said Monday night’s attacks, blamed by Saudi and US officials on the Al Qaeda network, highlight the pressures the Saudi royal family faces in maintaining a domestically unpopular alliance with the United States.

At the same time, the kingdom’s aging leadership is grappling with daunting social and economic problems that could sharpen the challenge from militants.

“The Saudis won’t be let off the hook,” said Yezid Sayigh of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. “There are long-term challenges for the Saudi leadership and for the US-Saudi relationship that won’t go away.”

Osama bin Laden has demanded the eviction of American troops from Saudi Arabia ever since they were deployed during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis.

In theory, the troop pullout announced two weeks ago should relieve strains in US-Saudi relations that have grown since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

But Neil Partrick, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, said Monday night’s blasts showed that radicals would not be satisfied by the departure of US troops.

“In a dramatic way, it emphasizes the original motivation to remove the American presence. Simply removing its most public expression will not actually resolve things,” he said.

“At bottom there is a desire to destabilize the kingdom and overthrow the Al Saud (ruling family),” he added.

AL QAEDA: Daniel Neep, of London’s Royal United Services Institute, said Saudi Arabia had been unusually ready to acknowledge that Al Qaeda might be behind the Riyadh bombings.

In the past, the Saudis have been liable to deny that Osama has any followers in the country. They have blamed a series of bomb attacks on Westerners in recent years as part of an alcohol-related turf war among foreigners.

“The Saudis can’t afford to rest on their laurels,” Mr Neep said, adding that the American troop presence was only one of a long list of grievances voiced by Al Qaeda, which denounces the alliance with the United States and accuses the royal family of being unworthy to guard the holy places.

He said Saudi Arabia would remain under US pressure to reform, especially after the American military success in Iraq, but the latest bombings, by emphasizing the common threat to the two countries, might “presage a rapprochement” with Washington.

Mr Partrick said President George Bush and other US officials had acknowledged improved cooperation by Riyadh since Sept 11, especially in efforts to close down financial channels between Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda.

The bombings underscored the “enormous domestic constraints” on Saudi Arabia to contribute more than verbal support to Mr Powell’s efforts to garner broad Arab support for the “roadmap” to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Mr Partrick said.

Sayigh said that Saudi Arabia, unlike Egypt, had only recently had to face systematic challenges that called into question the foundations of the ruling family’s approach, which has involved an alliance with Wahhabis.

“There is a deep socio-economic malaise and pressure to open up the system and make it more accountable,” he said.—Reuters