Saudi Ambassador Is Suspected in Quid Pro Quo with Bush

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States stated that he assures US presidential candidate John Kerry that his country did not cut a deal to down oil prices to boost President Bush's re-election bid, Reuters reports.
He also denied he was told by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld two months before the start of the Iraq war that Bush had decided to invade Iraq. Rather, he said, he was assured that any invasion would "finish" off President Saddam Hussein.
The Saudi ambassador was responding to allegations by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, author of a new book on Bush's preparations for the Iraq war -- "Plan of Attack."
He denied Woodward's allegation that the Saudis would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the November election, something they understood would favor Bush.
"The president (Bush) has asked a few times that we should be helping to make sure the oil prices don't go too high that would hurt the world economic recovery," Bandar said after meeting with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The ambassador said discussions with Bush about oil prices began after the start of the Iraq war.
"I cannot say we're not aware that you are going through your seasonal tribal warfare now. So it's very dangerous to open one's mouth here on any issue," he told reporters.
But he added, "I hope Senator Kerry has heard my explanation about the oil and he can be assured we didn't make any deals that could interfere in our friends' internal affairs."
Bandar said there was no "political quid pro quo" with Bush.
But he added, "Everything that happens between nations is political in the sense that it will affect (the) world economy and we have to work with our partners."