Relations between Saudi Arabia and the USA

This file concerns US-Saudi Arabian relations. It contains correspondence, memoranda, and newspaper articles concerning:

• Whether the US has made an official commitment to safeguarding the Saudi regime
• The friction relating to the sale of Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACs)
• Israeli efforts to impede development of closer US-Saudi relations
• The question of US military access in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi opposition to US military access arrangements with Oman
• Saudi dissatisfaction with the US following the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights
• The visit of US Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger to Saudi Arabia and the establishment of a US–Saudi joint military committee
• The uncomfortable compromise between Saudi opposition to US support for Israel and its own need for US military support
• US resistance to the diversification of the supply of defence equipment to Saudi Arabia
• The dispute concerning the raid on the house of Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud in Miami, Florida; and the difficulties HMG has experienced with Prince Turki and his family in Britain
• Saudi pleasure at the resignation of US Secretary of State Alexander Haig
• The impact of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon on the ‘special relationship’ between the US and Saudi Arabia and the increasingly anti-American attitudes in Saudi Arabia
• The build up of US diplomatic personnel in Riyadh
• US assessments of King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s first 100 days in power
• The US desire for the Saudis to influence the Syrian and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) position on the Lebanon crisis
• Attitudes towards Israel in Congress and the question of the US government using aid to pressure Israel.