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Riyadh: US President George W. Bush held talks with Saudi King Abdullah on Friday to seek help in taming record oil prices and shore up Arab support for his efforts to contain Iran's growing influence.
On his second visit to Saudi Arabia this year, Bush was renewing his appeal for more oil from Opec amid rising pressure at home to act as record fuel prices weigh on the economy.
But the president was expected to fare no better than in January, when his plea was heard but not heeded.
"We do count on the Opec countries to keep adequate [oil] supplies out there, so the president will talk again with the king about that," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said before the meeting.
"We have had sluggish growth; with lower oil prices we could certainly have better growth."
Energy security
As Bush flew into Riyadh, the White House said the United States, the world's largest energy consumer, had agreed to help protect the resources of the world's top oil exporter and help it in developing peaceful nuclear energy.
The announcement came as Bush ended a three-day trip to Israel where he vowed to oppose Iran's nuclear ambitions.
While Bush was likely to find common ground on Iran, Saudi Arabia has shown little sign of responding to Bush's calls to get Opec to pump more oil into world markets. Since Bush's last visit, oil prices have jumped some $30 to a new record near $128 a barrel yesterday, adding to US recession fears.
Despite US frustration over rising oil prices, it was all smiles and handshakes as Abdullah greeted the president and first lady Laura Bush on the airport tarmac.
They then rode together in a limousine to the king's sprawling horse farm outside Riyadh, the centrepiece of a visit the White House says is mostly to pay tribute to 75 years of formal ties between Washington and the Islamic kingdom.
Apart from agreements to cooperate on nuclear energy and oil security, the White House said Saudi Arabia had agreed to join two global initiatives - one to combat nuclear terrorism and another to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley says the two leaders are worried about the recent violence in Lebanon, where Hezbollah overran Beirut neighbourhoods last week. Hadley says the leaders shared concerns the recent events would "embolden Iran."
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