Abstract:
"In a Nov. 29 Washington Post op-ed piece, the well-connected Saudi analyst, Nawaf Obaid, warned that the Kingdom would provide aid to Iraqi Sunnis if American forces withdrew from Iraq. The Saudi Press Agency quickly issued a statement from an unnamed ""official source"" saying that Obaid's op-ed ""does not represent any official Saudi authority."" Obaid's op-ed had, in fact, stated that the opinions he expressed were ""his own and do not reflect official Saudi policy."" To underline the truth of that, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, terminated Obaid's consultancy with the Saudi Embassy. Yet despite this public repudiation, it has subsequently become apparent that Obaid's views do reflect official Saudi policy, at least to some extent. "
