Obama in Saudi Arabia today for GCC Summit

Riyadh - US seeks to assure Gulf allies on ties.

riyadh - US President Barack Obama travels to Saudi Arabia today with a reassuring message: the United States will not abandon its Gulf allies in their struggle against Iran, a regional power they fear is seeking to undermine their security.
Tired of what they see as a reduced commitment to old US allies, riled by comments Obama made about them in a magazine interview last month and aware there will be a new president in January, Riyadh and its neighbours may not be ready to just take his word for it.
"We want to receive tangible reassurances from them," said a senior Gulf official briefed on preparations for the meeting.
Short of a formal defence treaty, an idea rejected before a previous summit, Riyadh and its allies hope to come away from their meeting with new missile defence systems. Obama wants to find a way for Gulf states and Iran to arrive at a "cold peace" that douses sectarian tensions around the region and curbs the spread of militancy.
Obama's meetings, both with the Saudi king today and a day later at a joint summit with all the heads of the Gulf Cooperation Council, come in the shadow of differences over how to assess and address what both the Gulf and US describe as Iran's destabilising activities in the Middle East.
Gulf states fear the nuclear deal Washington and other world powers agreed with Iran, and Obama's reluctance to get bogged down in the Middle East's complex array of disputes, has freed Tehran to act without inhibition.
Riyadh in particular regards Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia militias and the Houthi group in Yemen as part of a struggle for the future of the Middle East.
For their part, American officials saw the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon and the expansion of militant groups such as Daesh as posing the greatest threat to both Gulf and US interests.
"I don't think that there can be any confusion or ambiguity on who is our partner in the region, and who isn't," said Rob Malley, Obama's adviser on Middle East issues, contrasting the depth of Washington's ties with Gulf states to its efforts to counter Iranian destabilisation of the region.
The US is also coming to the summit with some requests. Defence Secretary Ash Carter has said the president will push Gulf states to contribute economic aid to the effort to rebuild regions of Iraq devastated by the war against the Daesh extremists.
Obama has recently said his biggest mistake was not focusing on reconstruction after the military invention in Libya, leaving the country in ruins and a breeding ground for radicals. The White House has said Obama hopes the US - and more pointedly, its allies - learn from that error.
That's a message Obama is likely to carry on with him to Europe, where he is likely to get a warmer reception.
The president remains popular in the UK and Germany and on his final visits, where he will lunch with Queen Elizabeth and hobnob with business leaders at a German industrial fair, he's likely to try to trade on that political capital.
The White House has said Obama will make the case for why Britain should stay in the European Union, potentially providing a boost to a struggling Prime Minister David Cameron. He and first lady Michelle Obama will also have dinner with Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, along with Prince Harry, according to Kensington Palace.
In Germany, the president is expected to reinforce Chancellor Angela Merkel's policies on refugees and trade, two areas where the chancellor has faced intense pressure. - Reuters, AP

• MENA
• Saudi Arabia