Some advise Obama might not want to ignore

Obama has hit the road running! So, let's see whether action translates into positive outcomes.

The Saudis are allies of the US. The US needs Saudi oil. Accordingly, it's a country one doesn't lightly ignore.

The Financial Times reports on a more than timely warning in an op-ed piece in the FT from a Saudi Prince to newly-elected president Obama:

"In an article in today's Financial Times, Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and former ambassador to Washington, says that if the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and maintain its strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, it "will have to drastically revise its policies vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine".

Writing days after the end of Israel's three-week Gaza offensive, he says the Bush administration, which supported the onslaught, had left a "sickening legacy in the region". And while Saudi Arabia has so far resisted Iranian calls to lead a "jihad" against Israel, "eventually the kingdom will not be able to prevent its citizens from joining the worldwide revolt against Israel".

The prince - writing before President Barack Obama made his comments on the Arab-Israel conflict last night - holds no official position in the Saudi government at the moment but his views reflect the mounting frustrations within the al-Saud royal family and the apparent need to exert immediate pressure on the Obama administration for a more even-handed Middle East policy."

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