Saudi-Israeli Contacts:
A mini-debate is raging among various Arab factions about secret Saudi-Israeli meetings. Al-Jazeera TV and the London daily Alquds Alarabi quote reports in the Israeli press that high Saudi Officials have met with senior Israelis in Amman. ‘High Saudi officials’ almost always mean members of the ruling family. One senior Israeli official reported to have met the Saudis is supposed to be Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The Saudis ignored the reports for a few days, then denied them half-heartedly. What is telling is that Jordan has come out and denied the reports- which most likely means they are probably true. For some reason a major Israeli daily newspaper like Yediot Ahronot always seems to have more credibility than a vehement official Arab denial.

Al-Manar TV of Hizballah has an interesting take on this. It claims that Olmert told the media coyly “we have agreed to deny this news, but that does not mean you reporters have to believe our denial in this case”. Then al-manar quotes Olmert saying, “In other cases you should believe what we tell you.”

Bob Woodward reports in his latest book State of Denial that Prince Bandar, former Saudi Ambassador to Washington and second man in the Kingdom's diplomatic heirarchy, often met with Israeli officials. Clearly normalization is coming. Extremists on either or both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide may manage to derail it, but only for a while. So why not do it in the open? This seems to be the Israeli position as well.

Eyes on Kirkuk:
Secretary of State Rice tried to deal with a long-postponed Kurdish question on her last visit to Iraq. These involve the thorny issue of Kirkuk, authority over northern oil resources, and the Kurdish Workers Party that has been a thorn in the side of the uptight Turkish politicians and generals. With attention focused on terrorism in Baghdad and al-Anbar, little attention was paid to the potential future powder keg of the north. If there is a classic civil war in Iraq, the Kurds are almost certain to break away.

Cheers
Mohammed