WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- President Bush is to meet with Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar next week amid increasing strains between the two countries and U.S. plans to attack Iraq and topple President Saddam Hussein.
"He's coming to talk about a variety of regional issues," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said about the meeting to be held in Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch Tuesday.
The meeting comes amid a straining of ties between the two allies.
Earlier this month, a group of U.S. lawyers filed a 258-page civil lawsuit in Alexandria, Va., charging members of the Saudi royal family and others with complicity in the killing of people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard four hijacked airliners on Sept. 11. The suit was filed on behalf of family members of some 900 of the people who died in the attacks.
Earlier this week, a group of Saudis said they planned to sue the U.S. government and media organizations for what they called psychological and financial damage suffered following Sept. 11.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.
Saudi Arabia has also publicly said it is against any U.S. plans to attack Iraq, adding the United States cannot launch any attacks against Iraq from Saudi soil.
The meeting involves the highest-ranking Saudi official since Bush met Crown Prince Abdullah in April.
