Saudi Arabia denies playing climate saboteur at Glasgow

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and HELENA ALVES
Associated Press

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s energy minister is rejecting complaints that the oil kingdom is working behind the scenes to undermine global climate talks. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al Saud on Wednesday told reporters that such claims were a “false allegation and a cheat and a lie.” As the world’s biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia long has been accused of trying to slow down and weaken the deals that come out of U.N. climate talks. At current talks in Glasgow, Scotland, Saudi Arabia proposed cutting off negotiations at 6 every night. Negotiators and observers accuse the kingdom of more complex efforts behind closed doors to play factions against one another in the talks.