Bush pleas for cheaper fuel may fall on deaf ears again

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush will likely receive little more than a smile and handshake when he asks Saudi Arabia to help lower oil prices during a visit to Riyadh this week to commemorate 75 years of a relationship that has developed fissures in the last decade.

Oil prices keep climbing to record highs, threatening to push the US economy into recession, and economic issues are a top concern for American voters during this presidential election year when they will choose a successor to Bush.

Bush is scheduled to meet Saudi King Abdullah at his private farm on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of US-Saudi relations.