	saudi role in gulf praised by u s officials saudi arabian crown prince abdullah bin abdul aziz was thanked by the reagan administration for his country s close and closed mouthed cooperation with washington in the gulf a senior u s official said the saudis are being very cooperative it would be nice if the saudis would go more public but it s their real estate said the official who asked not to be named he declined to describe what sort of help the saudis were providing saying that saudi officials are reluctant to acknowledge their role in the gulf where the united states has stationed forces to protect ping lanes the prince met vice president george bush on monday after u s naval forces attacked offshore iranian oil platforms in what washington said was retaliation for an iranian attack on a  moored off kuwait and flying the u s flag asked at the start of the meeting how he felt about the attack the prince who is here on an official visit replied i believe what the united states has done is their responsibility as a superpower the senior u s official said his remark was an endorsement of the u s attack reuter 
