Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, denied on Wednesday that Riyadh had agreed to help lower oil prices to help US President George W. Bush's reelection bid.
There was no "political quid pro quo," he said, stressing that a lower price of oil "is good for the American people, the American economy, for the world economy."
Bandar said he hoped Bush's challenger, Democratic Senator John Kerry, "has heard my explanation about the oil and he can be assured that we didn't make any deals that could interfere in our friend's internal affairs."
The White House has also denied the allegation, which surfaced in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward that focuses on the US administration's planning for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Woodward suggested in "Plan of Attack" that Bandar had effectively promised Bush a boost in oil output to drop prices and strengthen the US economy ahead of the November 2 election.
After a White House meeting with Condoleezza Rice to discuss a deadly terrorist attack in Riyadh, Bandar said Saudi Arabia sought lower oil prices but that "it was not for the benefit of the president's political needs."
"I cannot say we're not aware that you are going through your seasonal tribal warfare now, so it's very dangerous to open one's mouth on any issue," joked the diplomat, who has close ties to the Bush family.
Kerry, who has been sharply critical of the Saudis and their links to the Bush administration, had denounced the reported deal on Monday, saying that it was "outrageous and unacceptable" if true.
"If, as Bob Woodward reports, it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people," he said.
Tackling another allegation in Woodward's book, Bandar denied that he had learned in early January that the United States would go to war - before even US Secretary of State Colin Powell knew.
Bandar said that Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers, had told him how the war would unfold if Bush gave the order.
"The vice president told me, 'The president has not made a decision yet. However, here is the plan if everything else fails'," the diplomat said, adding that Bush had roughly the same message for him when they met two days later.
"I didn't know about the war, actually, except one hour before the attack when I was informed by the White House," said Bandar.
Woodward reported in The Washington Post that Rumsfeld that shown Bandar a top secret map showing him how the war would unfold and said "You can take that to the bank. This is going to happen."
Asked for the context of the "bank" remark, the diplomat said "it was in the context of 'if there is war, will it finish Saddam Hussein or not?'"
The message he got, Bandar said, was that "if we go, then you can be sure it's over for Saddam."
Quizzed on Bush's endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, keeping some West Bank settlements, Bandar said the Arab world must look for the silver lining.
He said Washington had promised that volatile issues like the borders of a future Palestinian state as well as Bush's apparent dismissal of a Palestinian right to return to lands lost to Israel in 1948 could still be negotiated.
"What really counts for us is that all final status issues between the Palestinians and Israelis must be kept exactly that: Final status issues and negotiated between the parties," he said.
"I am an optimist. You cannot look at the cup as half empty, it has to be half-full. What else do we have? What other options. I mean, do we go to war? We have enough innocent people being hurt now on both sides," he said.
"If the Israelis leave Gaza, this is going to be big deal in my mind because I welcome any withdrawal by the Israelis from occupied Arab territory," he said.
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