"Kingdom's Trade With US Has Surged Since Sept. 11"
So reads a surprising headline in today's Saudi newspaper Arab News. The article goes on to explain that U.S. government figures show a 61 percent surge in bilateral trade with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Commenting on these figures, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan, noted that right after Sept. 11 and through 2002, imports of US products into Saudi Arabia remained flat. "But now, in the first four months of 2003, trade between our two nations grew 61 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching almost SR30 billion."