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and Saudi King Was Pivotal for Relations   WASHINGTON — As the
United States hailed its new relationship with Saudi Arabia on
Wednesday, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney took note of a little-
remembered meeting that provided early stability to Washington's
relations with the desert kingdom.  During his crisis meeting
with King Fahd last weekend, Cheney recalled, the Saudi king had
spoken of the two countries' historic relationship dating back
to a meeting between his father, King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, and
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The meeting quickly became
lost in the mists of history because it took place in the
immediate aftermath of the historic Yalta conference at which
Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet
leader Josef Stalin agreed on the outlines of post-World War II
Europe.  At the time, the United States and Britain were in
significant disagreement over the future of the Middle East.
Upon conclusion of the Yal