Bush urges Saudi prince to up oil production

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush, meeting Monday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, was pressing that Mideast nation to pump more crude oil to ease gas prices in America.\n"The crown prince understands that it is very important ... to make sure that prices are reasonable," Bush told reporters before the Saudi leader arrived at his Texas ranch. "High oil prices will damage markets. He knows that. We'll talk about his country's capacity."\nBut the president then pivoted to the domestic situation. He said Congress needs to pass a comprehensive energy strategy. "Now is the time for something to happen," Bush said.\nBush and Vice President Dick Cheney walked down a path at the ranch to greet Abdullah and his small entourage, which was nearly a half hour late to the meeting. The president gave Abdullah a warm embrace and they kissed on both cheeks.\nBush held Abdullah's hand to guide him into an office at the ranch, the president chatting about bluebonnets growing around the building. Meeting the group at the office door were White House chief of staff Andy Card, Bush's homeland security adviser Fran Townsend and National Security Adviser Steve Hadley. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also joined the group.\nBush's goal of spreading democracy across the Arab world also faces a difficult test with Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally ruled by absolute monarchy. Traditionally Bush holds news conferences with visiting foreign leaders, but there will be none during this visit because Abdullah rarely talks with reporters.\nMonday's meeting marks another step in a quickening pace of U.S. involvement in the Mideast. Two weeks ago Bush met at the ranch with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and said Israel should abandon plans for new construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. The Saudis believe the administration's strong support for Israel harms prospects for Middle East peace.\nDespite the difficult matters, Robert Jordan, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said the stage is set for a much friendlier meeting Monday than three years ago when Abdullah first visited the ranch. For one thing, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a polarizing figure, is now gone -- replaced by an elected president of the Palestinians, Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas will have his own meeting with Bush in the next few weeks.\nTo lay the groundwork for Monday's meeting, Cheney talked with Abdullah over lunch Sunday in a Dallas hotel.\nJordan noted that Saudi officials also have played an instrumental role in persuading Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. They have been supportive of increasing oil production at crucial times. And Abdullah has taken some initial steps toward introducing democracy to Saudi Arabia by holding elections for municipal councils, even though women's rights remain severely restricted, political parties are banned and press freedoms are limited.\nLikely to be on Abdullah's mind is a Saudi proposal that would give Israel normal relations with Arab nations only in exchange for its return to its borders before it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. \nAlthough Arab leaders last month endorsed that approach, Jordan said Abdullah -- well aware of Bush's position that the "new realties on the ground" of Jewish settlements make a full Israeli withdrawal unrealistic -- is unlikely to come in "with some flat demand"