From Iran Focus:

By Matt Spetalnick

ImageJERUSALEM, May 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush heads for Saudi Arabia on Friday to renew his appeal to help tame record oil prices and try to shore up Arab support for containing Iran’s growing regional clout.

After a three-day trip to Israel, Bush will fly to Riyadh to see King Abdullah, who for the second time this year is expected to rebuff the president’s face-to-face call to get OPEC pumping more oil to world markets.

Since Bush’s last visit in January, oil prices have jumped nearly $30 to around $126 a barrel, adding to U.S. recession fears and boosting political pressure on the White House in a year when voters will pick Bush’s successor.

Stephen Hadley, Bush’s national security adviser, said the president would tell Abdullah that oil suppliers must, for their own interests, “take into account the economic health of their customers who pay these prices”.

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