RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- U.S. military personnel have begun to withdraw from Saudi Arabia as part of a re-deployment of America's forces in the Persian Gulf, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced Tuesday.
Most U.S. forces at Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base will be gone by August, members of Rumsfeld's entourage said. The allied air command, headed by Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, moved from Prince Sultan to Qatar's al Udeid air base Monday.
The decade-long presence of American forces in this conservative Islamic kingdom has been a source of discomfort to Saudi Arabia's ruling monarchy, particularly after the U.S.-led war against Iraq, which the Arab world widely opposed.
As many as 10,000 American personnel and 200 aircraft were assigned to the remote desert base at the height of the latest Iraq conflict. Troop strength already has been cut in half, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Eventually, only a small number of American troops will remain, primarily to train members of the Saudi military.
Rumsfeld, who is touring the region, addressed more than 1,300 troops Tuesday at the base, then went to an opulent palace in Riyadh for a joint news conference with Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the defense minister, for whom the base is named.
The Pentagon chief later met with Crown Prince Abdullah, the defense minister's half-brother and Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, before leaving for Kuwait.
"We've had quite a time here together, haven't we?" Rumsfeld told a member of the royal family after arriving at Riyadh Air Base aboard a U.S. C-17 transport.
Rumsfeld said the planned American withdrawal from Prince Sultan Air Base was part of efforts to "refashion and rebalance" the U.S. military posture in the region after the American-led victory over Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The realignment also could include bases in Europe, Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld said "there is no question" that the allied victory in Iraq has changed the U.S. security requirements in the region. American officials have been steadily reducing the number of personnel and aircraft at the Saudi base since the air war began winding down several weeks ago. After flying thousands of strike missions during the height of the war, allied aircraft haven't dropped a bomb in more than a week.
While Saudi officials said they didn't request the withdrawal, the action could pre-empt critics of the ruling family, including Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden. The fugitive al Qaida leader, who is still believed to have a well-entrenched cadre of supporters in Saudi Arabia, has assailed the monarchy for permitting U.S. troops on Saudi land, which includes Islam's two holiest places, Mecca and Medina.
Jamal Khashoggi, editor of the Abha-based Arabic newspaper al Watan, said Saudis welcomed an end to the American military presence.
"Saudi Arabia is proud of its independence and sovereignty," Khashoggi said. "Saudi Arabia has a special position as the cradle of Islam. It was very awkward for us throughout to have American troops in the kingdom."
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