NEW DELHI — President Obama will take a
bipartisan delegation of prominent current and former officials with him when
he flies to Saudi Arabia on
Tuesday to offer his condolences on the death of King Abdullah, the White House announced.
Joining the president will be his Republican opponent from
2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and
several veterans of past Republican administrations, including two former
secretaries of state, James A. Baker III and Condoleezza Rice, and two former
national security advisers, Brent Scowcroft and Stephen J. Hadley.
Also meeting up with Mr. Obama in Riyadh, the Saudi
capital, will be senior figures from his own administration, including
Secretary of State John Kerry; John O. Brennan, the director of the Central
Intelligence Agency; and Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of the United
States Central Command, the military unit that oversees Middle East operations.
The White House said several Democratic members of Congress
would be part of the delegation as well, including some who were already
traveling with the president as part of his three-day visit to India, which ends on Tuesday.
Those to join him for the trip to Riyadh include Senator Mark Warner of
Virginia and Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Ami Bera of California and Eliot
Engel and Joseph Crowley of New York.
The heavyweight delegation, hurriedly assembled over the
past couple of days, underscores the importance that the United States places
on its relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just for its ample supplies of oil
but also for its leadership in the region and its assistance with intelligence
and counterterrorism.
In addition to paying respects to the
family of King Abdullah, who died Friday, Mr. Obama plans to meet with his
successor, King Salman. In part, the goal of the trip is for the president and
his team to take King Salman’s measure and, quietly at least, assess his
health. King Salman, 79, has had at least one stroke and lost some movement in
one of his arms.
While Mr. Obama has met King Salman before, they do not
have a notable relationship. But American officials were encouraged that Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister, was named deputy crown prince,
signaling a next generation of leadership, because he has a long
history of working with the United States on counterterrorism issues. Mr.
Bin Nayef has met with Mr. Obama at least twice.
In keeping with that, Mr. Obama’s
delegation includes a number of current and former officials who have worked
with Mr. Bin Nayef and his colleagues on terrorism issues, including Mr.
Brennan; Lisa Monaco, the president’s counterterrorism adviser; Joseph W.
Westphal, the ambassador to Riyadh; Samuel Berger, a former national security
adviser to President Bill Clinton; and Frances Fragos Townsend, a former
counterterrorism adviser to President George W. Bush.
Mr. Obama is only scheduled to spend
four hours on the ground in Riyadh, long enough for a meeting and a dinner at a
palace, before heading back to Washington. But the fact that he decided to go
sent a message, since he rarely makes overseas trips when a country’s current
or former leader dies. One of the few exceptions was the 2013 memorial to Nelson Mandela, the late South
African president.
In part, aides said, that reflects the fact that few
leaders of close allies have died in office during Mr. Obama’s tenure, and they
noted that it was fortunate timing that when King Abdullah died, the president
was already about to head to India, putting him relatively close by for an
extra stop in Riyadh.
Mr. Obama has had his disputes with Saudi leaders, most
notably on how far to go in negotiating with Iran and on how to respond to the
threat posed by the terrorist group called the Islamic State. But like his
Democratic and Republican predecessors, he has leaned on Saudi Arabia for help
in the region.
“It will be a chance for us to make sure that we’re in
good alignment going forward where we have overlapping interest,” said Benjamin
J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama. “I think you saw
the king send a signal that he’s committed to continuity in terms of Saudi
Arabia’s approach to those issues. But again, I think we’re well placed to
continue cooperation.”
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