Oil prices keep climbing to record highs, threatening to push the U.S. economy into recession, and economic issues are a top concern for American voters during this presidential election year when they will choose a successor to Bush.

Bush is scheduled to meet Saudi King Abdullah at his private farm on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of U.S.-Saudi relations.

His visit to Riyadh will follow a stop in Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state’s creation, and precedes a stop in Egypt for talks with Palestinian leaders.

Oil, Iraq, Iran and Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking are high on the agenda as Bush and King Abdullah try to smooth U.S.-Saudi relations that deteriorated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Saudi Arabia and the United States both view al-Qaida as a threat. But 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were of Saudi origin, as is al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, which tarnished Saudi Arabia’s image in the eyes of the American public.

The invasion of Iraq over the strong opposition of Saudi Arabia further exacerbated tensions and made the United States unpopular with the Saudi public.

“We have an odd disconnect here. We have a recognition on the part of the governments in both countries that this is a very important relationship,” said Chas Freeman, president of the Middle East Policy Council.

“But in both cases, the public is extremely negative. Saudi Arabia has been successfully vilified in American politics, and the United States is now extraordinarily unpopular in Saudi Arabia,” said Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Riyadh. White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said the U.S.-Saudi relationship was in “pretty good shape” despite stresses over the Iraq war.

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