By Andrew Hammond RIYADH, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's new policy of high-profile diplomacy has hit its first major hurdle with U.S. opposition to a Palestinian unity deal brokered by the kingdom, diplomats and analysts say. Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally that relies on U.S. military protection in the volatile Gulf region, brokered a deal to end Palestinian infighting at highly publicised talks this month in the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Israel and its U.S. ally have reacted coldly to the unity government deal between Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and the Islamist group Hamas, which stops short of offering a Hamas recognition of Israel. But diplomats and analysts say Saudi leaders have lost confidence in Washington's ability to ensure regional stability following the war on Iraq, where sectarian violence is raging, and are ready to live with U.S. ire to calm Palestinian strife. "What is becoming somewhat obvious and definitely intriguing is this new open, high-profile, high-risk diplomacy that the Saudis are embarking on," said Fahad Nazer, a fellow at the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington. At the centre of this diplomatic drive is Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a veteran diplomat and key Saudi royal who returned home in 2005 after serving as Saudi ambassador to the United States for 22 years and establishing close government relations there. Diplomats in Riyadh and Palestinian officials say Bandar was in constant contact with the U.S. administration before and during the Mecca talks, but could not secure U.S. approval. "There is an interesting series of policy dilemmas coming up (for Riyadh)," one senior diplomat said. "The Americans are very disappointed with the Mecca accord, the Saudis are saying give it time ... The United States and Israel are clearly gearing themselves up for a boycott (of the Palestinian government)." The diplomat said Saudi diplomacy -- also channelled through veteran Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal -- was erratic. Last year Prince Saud also talked of different arms of Saudi government not knowing what the others were doing. "The increased diplomatic activity is a result of Bandar's presence and his late nights sitting with the king ... Bandar is in constant orbit ... eager to please," he said. Bandar has shuttled between Tehran, Moscow, Paris and Amman in recent weeks, playing a central role in efforts to calm tension in Lebanon, where Saudi Arabia and Iran are backing opposing parties for control of government. SAUDI ANXIETY OVER IRAN Analysts say Saudi concern that non-Arab, Shi'ite Muslim power Iran is extending its influence into Iraq and Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian territories through financial support for Hamas, has been a key factor behind the diplomatic drive. The United States has been unable to pacify Iraq after leading an invasion in 2003 that brought Shi'ite Muslims allied to Iran to power. Saudi Arabia shares Western fears that Iran now plans to build nuclear weapons under the guise of a civil atomic programme, a charge which Tehran denies. Ahmed Shalan, a Saudi columnist in the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, said U.S. diplomacy had run aground and needed to go beyond the idea of shoring up Abbas against Hamas. "No wonder the Mecca talks have not been received with enthusiasm in Washington, as the policy pursued by the Bush administration is to strengthen Abbas versus Hamas," he said. Promoting one party over another in this manner "will lead to a more complicated crisis in the Palestinian internal situation ... the beginning of a civil war," Shalan said.
