CRAWFORD (Texas), Aug 27: US President George W. Bush on Tuesday dismissed “irresponsible talk” of strained Saudi-US ties hours before welcoming the kingdom’s ambassador to his Texas ranch amid stark differences on Iraq policy.

Ahead of his meeting here with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Bush telephoned Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to talk up the “eternal friendship” between their nations and dismiss media reports of ailing ties.

Bush “affirmed that latest reports about the (strained) relations between the two friendly countries is irresponsible talk, does not reflect the reality of these relations and their strength”, the Saudi SPA news agency reported.

The US leader also distanced himself from a leaked July 10 Pentagon briefing that portrayed the kingdom as a “kernel of evil” and an enemy of the United States.

“The president did say that the recent briefing did not reflect his views or the views of the secretary of defense,” a White House official said. “It was a warm conversation.”

US officials said Bush and Bandar would likely focus on bilateral relations, which have been troubled since the Sept 11 attacks, not least by splits on the Middle East and potential US military action against Iraq.

The crown prince on Monday publicly joined Syrian President Bashar al-Asssad to warn against any US military action against Iraq, and upbraided Bush on Tuesday over US support for Israel.

The prince told Bush that “he and the Saudi people are upset over the tragedy of the Palestinian people under the Israeli occupation”, and called on the US leader to support a pan-Arab peace plan, according to SPA.

Bandar, who was bringing his wife and children on his second visit to Bush’s beloved “Prairie Chapel” ranch, was reportedly carrying a letter from the crown prince to the president on the subject of bilateral ties.

Historically good relations between the two nations in the 70 years since Saudi Arabia was founded have been blighted recently with mistrust, fuelled by a war of words in the press, trillion-dollar lawsuits tied to the Sept 11 attacks, and questions about Riyadh’s aid in the “war on terrorism”.

On Monday, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer did his best to lighten the tone by emphasizing that the president looked forward to his meeting with Bandar on a personal level.—AFP