US accuses S. Arabia for undermining Iraq efforts

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, on Sunday accused US ally Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq. The comments during a CNN interview follow reports that the United States is set to announce the proposed sale of $5 billion or more in sophisticated weaponry for Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf states. Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Iraq, said that an op-ed piece he wrote for The New York Times earlier this month accusing US allies of pursuing destabilizing policies toward Iraq, referred in part to Saudi Arabia. "Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries are not doing all they can to help us in Iraq," he said. "At times, some of them are not only not helping, but they are doing things that are undermining the effort to make progress."