Recollections of Riyadh in post a 9/11 Saudi Arabia

Friday Focus: Robert Jordan took up his ambassadorial role in Riyadh in the aftermath of 9/11 wondering if he would be met by friend or foe, but he was quickly reassured - with video.

Robert Jordan describes himself as an "innocent lawyer in Dallas, Texas" when his friend George W Bush invited him to join his administration as US ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

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Armed with only his wit and a couple of words of Arabic, he flew into the kingdom three-and-a-half weeks after the September 11 attacks wondering if he would be met by "friend or foe".

After serving for two years as a go-between the president and the king, shuttling from Washington to Riyadh, he retired from the diplomatic service in 2003 and returned to Baker Botts, the law firm that he had first joined in 1985.

A staunch Republican, he thinks the Arab spring has weakened the appeal of al Qa'eda, but that the struggle against bin Laden's ideology must continue, with business and economic growth as key.

Infrastructure spending in energy will help, especially in the kingdom he believes, pointing out that the Saudi petroleum company Aramco is now looking for gas for its power plants with as much eagerness as it searches for new oilfields.

He now lives in Dubai, where he sails, plays "bad golf" and enjoys the restaurant scene.

q Tell us about Baker Botts and what you are doing in the Middle East?

a Baker Botts was established in 1840 in Houston. Many people are familiar with the former secretary of state James Baker. His great, great grandfather was one of the founders of the firm and his son Jamie is now head of the Washington office. The firm has 13 offices around the world, seven of them outside the US and as many offices in the Middle East as in Texas.

q You are known as an oil and gas law firm?

a Yes, our reputation is largely from all forms of energy, including power plants and alternative energy. But we also do infrastructure, free-zone representation and helping businesses come to the UAE and the Middle East.

q So how did a lawyer in Dallas become a diplomat in Saudi Arabia?

a I had been asked to serve the administration and I said I didn't want to do something honorary. Then my friend the president came to me with this idea and it wasn't something I could say no to.

q Did you have diplomatic experience?

a Not at all, and this is an interesting point. The Saudis do not give diplomatic credentials to an ambassador of the US who is a career foreign service officer. They want a political appointee who has a close personal relationship with the president who can go over the heads of the bureaucracy when necessary.

q And experience in the Middle East?

a None whatsoever. My credentials were all about my relationship with the president, hopefully some intelligence and judgement. I arrived in Saudi about three-and-a-half weeks after 9/11.

q How was it?

a I arrived at night. I was met at the airport by six Saudi bodyguards in their white robes with shoulder holsters and they were to become my new best friends. At this time, since 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 had been Saudis, the real question was: were the Saudis friend or foe? I certainly found out that these Saudis were friends and would probably have stood in front of a bullet for me, but when you arrive there you are not so sure. I spent a fair number of the first few weeks dealing with senior members of the royal family, convincing them that it was Saudis who were the hijackers and second, that it was a real problem.

q After two years in Saudi Arabia, that was the end of your diplomatic career?

a In all honesty, I was somewhat reluctant to take the job in the first place. I had a law practice I couldn't neglect forever, kids that had to go through school. Finally, in June 2003 I was with the president at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, when I said it was time to move on and he thanked me for my service.

q Was that access to him useful?

a Absolutely. He and Crown Prince Abdullah, now King Abdullah, started out on kind of a bad foot. They had a meeting at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. Abdullah was very concerned about the loss of life of Palestinians. But at that meeting they bonded, it happened almost magically. It was almost profound. It was up to me to carry messages between the two of them, and I tried to keep them both up to speed with what the other was thinking.

q What is your view on the death of bin Laden?

a It needed to happen. There is a danger of getting caught up in the cult of personality, but I do think he was a symbol and it was important that he was taken out.

q What does his death do for business between America and the Middle East?

a Hopefully it takes it to a new chapter. It takes us beyond this cult of personality and mystique. Now we have to defeat the ideology that attracts people. The battle will be fought more in the future by people in suits and ties and abayas than people in camouflage.

q Saudi Arabia is renowned for having some of the worst roads in the Middle East. How is it that one of the richest countries in the world has such bad infrastructure?

a I think in the past, in the mid-1980s, they invested in palaces and some of the high life and not as much in the infrastructure as they could have. Having said that, it's not as bad as all that, some of the highways are well paved, but they just don't have enough of them. They've had a population explosion, but their airports are not as good as they could be. King Abdullah is committed to infrastructure spending. We are doing a bit of work in that participation with Saudi Electricity, building a number of power plants around the country.

q Is petrol too cheap?

a It's too cheap in the developing world, particularly in the Middle East, where it is subsidised. The US is a little spoilt, particularly when you compare it to prices in Europe. I have asked myself many times if it should be more expensive in America, but I worry about what effect that would have on the economy.