 | ...and promptly hauls in Steve Hadley for 'discussions'... |
Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, on Sunday said he was "taken aback" by President George W. Bush's remark that the United States was "addicted" to Mideast oil, and that the topic continues to be discussed between Saudi and U.S. government officials. Saudi Arabia exports only 15 percent of total U.S. oil imports, al-Faisal noted in a CNN "Late Edition" interview, adding, "I would hardly call that a lot".
Bush made the remark during his State of the Union speech last week, and al-Faisal said he had "a very good meeting" the next day with U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley at the White House. "We are talking through that issue --- both governments," al-Faisal said, noting that a joint communique was issued by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia last year, following a meeting in Texas between King Abdullah and Bush in which the leaders agreed on an energy policy that called for increased Saudi oil output for the United States. "This is something that is of serious concern to us because oil is our major income earner," al-Faisal said.
| "Like, we could sell sand?" |
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