RIYADH, July 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia has decided to host US
troops in a joint move with Washington to boost regional security, the
kingdom’s defence ministry said, as tensions soar in the Gulf.
“Based on mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States of
America, and their desire to enhance everything that could preserve the
security of the region and its stability… King Salman gave his approval to
host American forces,” a ministry spokesman was quoted by Saudi state news
agency SPA as saying.
Saudi Arabia has not hosted US forces since 2003 when they withdrew
following the end of the war with Iraq.
The US presence in Saudi Arabia lasted 12 years, starting with Operation
Desert Storm in 1991, when Iraq invaded Kuwait.
As many as 200 US aircraft were stationed at the Prince Sultan air base
situated around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the capital at the peak of
the Iraq war, and as many as 2,700 missions a day were handled by the
headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
But relations between the two countries were not always easy during the 12
years of cooperation, particularly following the September 11, 2001 attacks
in New York which were orchestrated by Saudi-born al-Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden.
Tensions in the Gulf increased further on Friday as Iran said it had
confiscated a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and as US
President Donald Trump insisted that the US military had downed an Iranian
drone that was threatening a US naval vessel, despite denials from Tehran.