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Two substantial indications of Saudi Arabian attitudes and policies over the present Middle East crisis have been given from Riyadh. The first was a statement from Dr. Abdo Yamani, the Minister of Information, which indirectly, but openly, criticised the United States for its support of Israel. The second was the announcement that the kingdom accepts the invitation to attend a planned Arab summit meeting.

The Saudi and Syrian Foreign Ministers' recent talks in Washington with American leaders have edged along a little the political efforts to find a settlement of the Lebanese crisis. Prince Saud al Faisal and Abdul Halim Khaddam seem to have persuaded the Americans that the solution is not to be found by the US simply giving its unqualified support to the stark demands of the Israelis and waiting for the PLO in Beirut to comply.

As the Arab efforts to secure the withdrawal of the Israelis from the Lebanon gathers pace and some glimmerings of a common policy begin to evolve, Saudi Arabia is in the vanguard of the attempts to reach a solution. Prince Sultan, the Minister of Defence, affirmed that the situation in the Lebanon is the main concern of the Saudi leaders. King Fahd, within weeks of his accession to the throne, is personally involved in the issue, putting his prestige and standing to bear in direct personal contacts with the principals involved.

In the midst of the savage Israeli invasion of Lebanon, now the longest lasting Arab Israeli war since 1948, none of the Arab countries, except Syria, deemed themselves to take part in the fighting. It is a miserable but unavoidable fact that if the other Arab states had taken part, their intervention would probably not have had much effect on the Israeli was machine. Instead, the Arab countries have been limited to what they might achieve by their political and diplomatic efforts.

The seven-year reign of King Khalid ended on 13 June with his death from a heart attack, in Taif. Khaled ascended to the throne in 1975 on the death of his assassinated brother Faisal. At the time, his ascension was thought to be a somewhat reluctant one. His half brother Fahd seemed to be the most suitable candidate for the throne with his keen interest in politics, development and world affairs. However, the preference given to Khalid reflected a respect for tradition.

Marking the first anniversary of the Gulf Co-operation Council (May 25th), ministers of the member states and Council officials issued the customary statements extolling the achievements and contributions of the organisation. Some of the commemorative comments were fairly well deserved; the Council has undoubtedly made progress in certain areas of its endeavours.

The recent informal meeting in Riyadh between King Khaled, Shaikh Zayed, the Ruler of the U.A.E., Shaikh Isa, the Ruler of Bahrain, and Kuwait's Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah al Ahmad, produced no substantitive commiques nor were any needed to divine its purpose. The region's concerns about the Gulf War are fast turning to consternation, as Iraq's military position becomes ever more precarious and the prospect of a victorious Iran looms over the Gulf.

After the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, the Camp David process is supposed to proceed to the question of Palestinian autonomy in in Israeli occupied territories. However, the Camp David script has been drastically re-written by Mr. Begin by the simple expedient of the introduction of a new piece of legislation in the Knesset.

The Saudi monarch King Khalid, in his capacity as chairman of the Islamic Conference Organisation, issued a call to forty-three Muslim countries to observe a general strike on April 14th, as a mark of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Fears are growing amongst United States' Administration officials concerned with the Middle East that Israel's Prime Minister Begin may feel compelled to take drastic action to compensate for the final withdrawal from Sinai on 25 April. Despite the constant support of President Reagan personally and his Administration as a whole, for Israel's concepts of "secure borders", a total revision of United States policy would be inevitable if Begin compensated for Sinai withdrawal by annexing the West Bank.

The American Rapid Development task force is one of the more emotive and controversial aspects of United States Middle East policy. To some Arab countries it is seen as an essential piece of military insurance for their safety and integrity; to others it is a frightful and frightening potential hazard to their independence and sovereignty.

At the end of February, Greece's Foreign Minister Ioannis Charalambopoulos made a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia which showed the way Greece's new socialist government sees its relationship with the Arab world. So far, Greece had maintained an attitude towards the Middle East which, if not indifferent, was at least neutral. What the country and its government were more concerned about was, regarding the West, its integration in the Common Market and to the east, the deadlock on Cyprus and other Aegean islands.

For the moment Saudi Arabia has diluted the tough set of Syrian economic sanctions demanded against Western governments over the Golan heights.

The six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council could have a common currency, a common central bank and a joint state investment policy by the end of the decade, Bahrain's Minister of Development Yousef Shirawi said in London recently.

The Reagan Administration in the United Stated is expected to smash all records for foreign arms sales during the current fiscal year. And, according to closely guarded Pentagon calculations, more than half of the anticipated total is accounted for by Saudi Arabia alone.