With Saudi deals, US, China battle for influence in Mideast

By AAMER MADHANI, MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a matter of days, Saudi Arabia carried out blockbuster agreements with the world’s two leading powers. It signed a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with the Saudi’s arch-nemesis Iran, and announced a massive contract to buy commercial planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing. The two announcements spurred speculation that the Saudis were laying their marker as a dominant economic and geopolitical force that has the flexibility to play Beijing and Washington off each other. It also cast China in an unfamiliar leading role in Middle Eastern politics. And it has raised questions about whether the frosty U.S.-Saudi relationship has reached a détente.