Saudis work to save fellow Arab monarchs

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 27 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia is doing its best to contain the wave of Arab revolts, with special concern for fellow monarchies, observers say.

Besides giving Egypt $4 billion last week to prop up the ruling military council, the kingdom has invited Jordan and Morocco to join the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are all Sunni Muslim monarchies.

"We're sending a message that monarchies are not where this is happening," Prince Waleed bin Talal al-Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, told The New York Times. "We are not trying to get our way by force, but to safeguard our interests."

"I am sure that the Saudis do not like this revolutionary wave; they were really scared," said Khalid Dakhil, a Saudi political analyst and columnist.

While staying out of the conflicts in Libya and Syria, the kingdom has tried to ease Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power and sent troops into Bahrain to save the Sunni royal family from a Shiite revolt.

The Saudis were displeased when the United States dropped its support for the rulers of Egypt and Tunisia but are still negotiating to buy $60 billion in U.S. weapons.