WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Pentagon has resubmed training arrangements for the Saudi Navy.
The Defense Department has approved providing contractors, equipment and other training requirements. Training cooperation will begin over the next few weeks, and according to Pentagon officials could continue until the end of the decade.
U.S. training of the Saudi navy was suspended two years ago in the aftermath of the killing of a U.S. contractor at the Jubeil Naval Base. A suspected al-Qaida operative who served in the navy was believed responsible for the murder.
Early in 2003 the U.S. withdrew all combat forces from Saudi Arabia, which in the buildup to the March 2003 outbreak of war in Iraq, had reached over 15,000. The U.S. presence currently remaining in Saudi Arabia is two modest sized military training missions, one for the Saudi Armed Forces under the Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation and another for the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Those programs have been operative for over 40 years.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- which deeply affected Saudi-U.S. relations -- Saudi Arabia has breoadened its military contacts away from its previous heavy reliance on Washington, sometimes to the Pentagon's discomfort. In addition to diversifying its arm purchases, in April Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, Gen. Salih bin Ali Al-Muhayya, said that Saudi Arabia would expand its military cooperation with Iran.
