Washington--The White House and Saudi Arabia scrambled to quell talk of a diplomatic rift Monday, after the Custodian of the Two Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz pulled out of a summit with President Barack Obama at the eleventh hour.
Senior US and Saudi officials appeared in public to insist the Gulf royal's decision was not a snub nor part of a deeper crisis in never-easy ties that date back decades.
Obama had invited six Gulf leaders to the presidential retreat, amid suspicions that Washington is no longer committed to their security and is not doing enough to stop Iran's destabilizing actions across the region.
The US president has warned the deeply conservative monarchies that they must reform, and has launched nuclear talks with their arch-foe Iran.
With just days before Wednesday's meeting at the White House and Thursday's gathering at Camp David, Riyadh said it would instead send Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and the King's influential son Mohammed bin Salman.
"This is not related in any way, shape or form to any disagreement between the two countries," said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, saying the King would stay at home to deal with unrest in Yemen.
"I think this idea that this is a snub because the king did not attend is really off base. This is an extremely high level delegation. It has absolutely the right people to represent the Kingdom."
Jubeir also dismissed suggestions that King Salman had been forced to cancel the visit due to long-rumored ill health.
"The King's health is excellent, thank God," he said.
The White House, meanwhile, announced that Obama and Salman had spoken by telephone, as the US too tried to downplay differences.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest rejected claims Riyadh was trying to send a message.
"If so, that message was not received," he said. "The travel plans are completely unrelated to the agenda that's planned for Camp David."
AFP
