REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DUBAI/RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's leaders hoped US President Barack Obama and their King Abdullah understand each other better after talks and could stabilize a close regional security alliance after months of rockiness over Middle East policy, diplomats said.

Friday's two-hour exchange at Abdullah's desert camp did not yield a shared statement or any evidence of policy changes, leading some Saudis to question whether differences over Syria's war or Iran's nuclear programme were closer to being resolved.

But diplomats said the mere fact Obama made the effort to visit and discuss issues "frankly" - in a US official's words - with the king should reduce the margin for public spats and counter an impression that both sides value the alliance less.

Obama visited the world's top oil-exporter and birthplace of Islam aiming to soothe Saudi fears that the United States was retreating from its commitment to the security of Middle East allies and allowing Riyadh's rival Iran more influence.

Those concerns, revolving particularly around the cautious US approach to the war in Syria where Riyadh and Tehran back opposing sides, had led top Saudis to warn of a "major shift" from Washington and that they might "go it alone" in future.

Saudi faith in Obama was shaken by his approach to the Arab uprisings in 2011, when they wanted him to do more to protect shared allies who were unseated by popular protests, and by his failure to press Israel into ending settlement construction in occupied territory that Palestinians want for a state.

Last year their anger boiled over when Obama backed away from air strikes against the forces of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after a poison gas attack in the country's civil war, and when Washington and five other world powers agreed a preliminary deal with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika