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January 20, 2006 |
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KING ABDULLAH DISCUSSES WITH THE AMERICAN VICE PRESIDENT REGIONAL ISSUES AND THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND IRAQ. PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL: DEFUSING THE TENSION BETWEEN SYRIA AND LEBANON IS ONE OF OUR PRIORITIES. THE FOREIGN MINISTER STRESSES THE DANGERS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND URGES IRAN TO ACCEPT THE POSITION TO MAKE THE GULF, AS PART OF THE MIDDLE EAST, NUCLEAR FREE AND FREE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. A Royal Court statement issued said that starting from 22/01/2006, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz will pay official visits to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan. The visits are in response to official invitations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from leaders of these countries and aim to boost bilateral relations and discuss regional and international issues. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz would also visit Jamia Millia Islamia where he would receive an Honorary Doctorate. The media coordinator at the university said King Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz received a similar degree from the university in 1955. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney held a bilateral meeting at the King's residence in Rawdhat Khuraim, near Riyadh. During the meeting, they discussed the overall situations and developments at the regional and international arenas particularly the development of the Palestinian cause and the situation in Iraq. Aspects of cooperation between the two friendly countries and ways of their enhancement in all fields in the service of their mutual interests were also reviewed. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud received at his residence in Rawdhat Khuraim, near Riyadh, the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his accompanying delegation. During the audience, the Monarch welcomed the U.S. Vice President to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On his part, Cheney expressed his thanks to and appreciation of the King for a warm welcome and generous hospitality. The Monarch held a luncheon in honor of the U.S. Vice President and the accompanying delegation. The audience and the banquet were attended by Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Prince Badr Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Commander of the National Guard; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Ambassador to the United States of America; princes and a number of officials. US Vice-President Dick Cheney and his accompanying delegation arrived on a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was welcomed at King Khaled International Airport by Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, and US ambassador to the Kingdom James Oberwetter. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the Arab world's two leading powers, urged US Vice President Dick Cheney to give negotiations more time in the growing diplomatic conflict over Iran's nuclear program, officials close to Cheney's talks in Riyadh and Cairo said. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks with Cheney at his ranch outside Riyadh on major regional and international issues including the situation in both Iraq and Palestine and the growing tension between Syria and Lebanon. King Abdullah reportedly stressed "the need for giving negotiations a chance" before pressing for Iran's referral to the UN Security Council, the Associated Press reported, quoting officials close to the talks in Riyadh. "The talks covered the subject of Syrian-Lebanese tension and the Saudi-Egyptian efforts to ward off an escalation of the situation in the region," the AFP news agency reported, quoting unnamed sources. The two men agreed on "the need for Syria to cooperate with the UN probe (into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri) in keeping with UN Security Council resolutions and on the importance of safeguarding security in the region," a Saudi official said, requesting anonymity. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak also expressed the same opinion of Saudis on the Iran issue during talks with Cheney. "Cairo would wait and see whether there will be consensus" in regards to dealing with Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog. "We call for Iran to show more flexibility and cooperation, and we call for a continuation of dialogue with Iran," Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said. He declared that Egypt could not ignore its longstanding position "which refuses to put all this fuss and focus on the Iranian nuclear program without looking at Israel's nuclear arsenal. We cannot give support to a resolution unless it makes reference to the universality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and unless it is free of double standards." During his talks with Cheney, King Abdullah stressed the need for Washington to help the Palestinian Authority and pursue its efforts to "implement the road map and achieve the US president's (George W. Bush) vision about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state." The Saudi official said King Abdullah voiced satisfaction at US efforts to "facilitate" the legislative elections in the Palestinian territories on Jan. 25. The two leaders also reviewed "efforts and contacts under way at the Arab and local levels to ensure the success of the political process in Iraq," the official said. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are co-sponsors of an Iraqi reconciliation conference to be held in Baghdad in late February or early March. Saudi officials earlier said that cooperation in the fight against terrorism was also on the agenda. Later in the afternoon, King Abdullah hosted a banquet lunch for the US vice president, which was attended by several members of the royal family, Saudi ministers and high-ranking Saudi and US officials. Prominent among those who attended the luncheon talks were Prince Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs, Prince Badr, deputy commander of the National Guard, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, foreign minister, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the US and Prince Muqrin, chief of General Intelligence. Cheney later left Riyadh for Kuwait, to offer his condolences on the death of the country's former ruler, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah. Earlier, Cheney had discussed tensions between Syria and Lebanon with Mubarak in Cairo. "We cannot say that today's meeting brought about any solutions in this file, because it is not so simple, and any solution should be based on the implementation of Security Council resolutions," Mubarak's spokesman said. Cheney and Mubarak discussed the health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a deep coma since suffering a massive brain hemorrhage on Jan. 4, the Egyptian spokesman said. They assessed the impact of Sharon's ill-health on the Palestinian elections and the polls in Israel in March. President Mubarak and US Vice-President Dick Cheney discussed the future developments between Palestinians and Israelis given Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's illness, developments on the Lebanese and Syrian fronts as well as relations between Egypt and the United States. Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awwad said the two-hour Mubarak-Cheney meeting tackled developments in the Middle East peace process, the Palestinian elections set for January 25, the Israeli elections scheduled for March 28, ways of implementing the Roadmap and fulfilling President George W. Bush vision of establishing a Palestinian State living side by side with Israel in peace. The meeting also tackled the situation and the developments of the political process in Iraq and the latest developments on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. He said consultations between Mubarak and Cheney on the Syrian -Lebanese file are aimed at reaching a formula whereby to find a means of sustaining this cooperation between Syria and the international investigation commission. Awwad said that the meeting also tackled regional developments in the Sudan and Darfur, the role of the African Union in keeping peace in the province and the controversy over assigning this mission to the United Nations. However, the presidential spokesman warned of keeping the African Union away from peacekeeping in Darfur and replacing it by United Nations troops, asserting that this would affect the image of the African Union. Ambassador Awwad said talks touched on the multiparty diplomacy mainly consultations on the United Nations reform and controversy over the Iranian nuclear program, as well as the prospects of referring the Iranian file to the Security Council. Awwad said Egypt calls for sustaining dialogue with Iran on its nuclear program through diplomatic channels, indicating that Israel is the only state in the region that has nuclear facilities which are not subject ed to inspection . He said Egypt calls for internationalizing the nuclear arms Non Proliferation Treaty which should acceded to by all states including Israel, urging Iran to show more flexibility and transparency; the Middle East being no way in need of a nuclear armament race. Awwad said the credibility of European moves towards the Iranian nuclear file would be maintained by a parallel move that secures a universal adherence to nuclear Non Proliferation. Saudi Arabia has presented Lebanon and Syria with a proposed agreement to defuse tensions, amid rising Arab alarm over the steady deterioration in relations between the two countries since last February's killing of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the kingdom had found a set of general principles for an agreement, but was waiting for a response from Beirut and Damascus, where details would have to be worked out. "Now it's in the hands of both countries and they will let us know," he said. Prince Saud made clear the kingdom was not seeking a compromise on the UN probe into the Hariri assassination - an investigation that is continuing but which has already implicated high-level Syrian officials in the murder. "This [initiative] has nothing to do with the investigation. We are as anxious as anyone to find out who the perpetrators are and we want them to be found quickly," he said. Without directly commenting on UN demands to interview Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, Prince Saud said Saudi Arabia had urged Syria to co-operate with the UN probe "without reservations". Arab press reports have cited a seven-point plan, worked out by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, that includes putting an end to media campaigns, ceasing provocative statements from politicians, exchanging diplomatic representation and co-ordinating foreign policy. Prince Saud said the principles were designed to pave the way for negotiations between Beirut and Damascus on details of an agreement. Prince Saud said the priority for Saudi Arabia was to reduce tensions between Lebanon and Syria and prevent more chaos in the region. "We have enough problems as it is," he said. "It's about time we resolve the ones we have - Palestine, Iraq - instead of establish more." On the other hand Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Ottri said Syria's economy is in good condition and the reforms started to give their fruits. In a statement to al-Thawra daily, Ottri pointed out to an improvement in the performance of the Syrian economy due to the modifications that were adopted in different sectors of economy in Syria. He considered the rate of growth of the Syrian economy, which reached 4,5 % in 2005, as a good indicator, adding that the campaign against corruption is going ahead. Ottri added that 90% of the plans were carried out during 2005, reflecting an improvement in the performance of the state ministries compared to past years. On the effect of the foreign pressures on the Syrian economy, Ottri stressed that these pressures motivated us for more work, asserting that reform is Syria's national option. In Cairo Ambassador Said Kamal Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League said Syria has many times affirmed its cooperation with the international investigation into the killing of Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Al-Hariri. He added that the opportunity should be given to the efforts exerted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and President Hosni Mubarak and their initiative to sort out the problem. On the exchanged accusations between Syria and Lebanon and whether the aim is for President Al-Assad to be interviewed the Assistant Secretary General said the main worry is that the aim might be to end the Syrian regime like what the US did in Iraq. He added that the wisdom of President Al Assad will prevail at the end, affirming that France has interests in both Lebanon and Syria. On the other hand Saudi Arabia has said the West is partly to blame for the current nuclear stand-off with Iran because it allowed Israel to develop nuclear weapons. The Saudi foreign minister told the BBC statements made by Iran's president were "extreme" but that diplomacy was the way to resolve the crisis. Prince Saud al-Faisal was giving a rare interview while in London for a two-day terrorism conference. He has chosen this visit to call for a nuclear-free zone in the Gulf. Prince Saud told the BBC that the West was partly responsible for the current stand-off with Iran over its nuclear policy because, he said, it had helped Israel develop its own nuclear arsenal. But when asked how Saudi Arabia would respond if Iran acquired nuclear weapons, he ruled out joining the nuclear arms race. He said nuclear weapons benefited no-one and that if Iran were ever to use them against Israel, it would end up killing Palestinians. The Saudi foreign minister also called on the UK and other countries to back a Saudi initiative to set up an international counter-terrorism centre. He said progress had been made in tackling al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia but that his government was concerned about the return of Saudi militants who had been fighting in Iraq. Gaining the support of the public was crucial, he said, in winning the fight against terrorism. On the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Prince Saud said he planned to thank Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday for Britain's role, which he called both constructive and important. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, warned Tehran that its nuclear ambitions could bring disaster to the region. The Foreign Minister urged President Ahmadinejad's Administration, to forgo atomic energy, to moderate its foreign policy and resist the temptation of interfering in Iraq. Prince Saud spoke for many in the Arab world when he cautioned of the dangers of a regional arms race. "We are urging Iran to accept the position that we have taken to make the Gulf, as part of the Middle East, nuclear free and free of weapons of mass destruction. We hope that they will join us in this policy and assure that no new threat of arms race happens in this region," he told The Times. He said that the problem stemmed from Israel being allowed to build nuclear warheads, prompting others to follow suit. "Nobody mentions that Israel has 100 nuclear weapons in stock, even though it is an open secret," he said. In spite of suggestions that Saudi Arabia might seek to build its own nuclear deterrent if Iran acquired an atomic bomb, Prince Saud insisted that Riyadh was determined not to. While the international community is largely in favour of allowing Iran to develop a civilian nuclear industry to produce power, Prince Saud said that even this was potentially dangerous, a clear reference to the nuclear reactor being built at Bushehr in Iran. "(The Iranian reactor) is on the Gulf and being built with Russian technology. Just think if a Chernobyl accident happened here." Prince Saud said: "We hope his Administration will be a stabilising force and not a destabilising force," he said. "If he goes the way that President Khatami went in foreign policy, we think we can work together. But that will have to be tested in time." Prince Saud said that Iraq must be maintained as a unified country, giving warning of the dangers of splitting off its oil-rich south into a Shia region with close ties to Iran. Meantime Britain and its European allies backed away from threatening economic sanctions against Iran if the country is referred to the United Nations Security Council over its controversial nuclear programme. As Britain, France and Germany began drafting a resolution before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran to the UN, an official at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that Britain favoured a gradual, sustained build-up to force Tehran to comply with its international obligations. "We do not see this leading straight into sanctions," said the official. "We see a gradual build-up of moves that will take place over time. We are not going to [the UN Security Council in] New York to introduce punitive sanctions against Iran. That is not our approach." Although the UN Security Council has the power to impose sanctions, and even authorise the use of force, punitive measures are not being considered by the British. "The Security Council has weight and authority on the issues," said the FCO official. "A country cannot ignore the calls and requirements of the Security Council without cost. It brings together major players acting in concert. It can issue political calls which will have weight." British, French and German diplomats had begun drafting the referral resolution before the IAEA. Diplomats said that it called on Iran to "extend full and prompt co-operation to the agency" and called for "additional transparency measures". But it made no reference to the threat of sanctions. "The question of sanctions against Iran puts the cart before the horse," said Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, whose country has a $1 billion (£566 million) contract to build Iran's nuclear reactor. "Sanctions are in no way the best, or the only, way to solve the problem." His view was echoed by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman who favoured "patience" and the resumption of talks between Iran and the three leading European Union nations. Those talks ended last week when Iran broke a commitment to suspend nuclear research work and resumed enriching uranium, the process needed to make nuclear fuel or the core of an atomic warhead. Iran wrote to Britain, France and Germany insisting that a compromise could still be reached. The offer, in a letter written by Javad Vaeedi, the deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was dismissed as "vacuous" by the British side, which blamed Tehran for creating the conditions that made successful talks impossible. Neither Moscow nor Beijing have made their final positions public, though how they stand in the coming weeks will be critical to the success or failure of Western diplomacy. Their policy will influence other waverers among the 35 member states of the IAEA, which will vote at an emergency meeting in Vienna in a fortnight. British diplomats believe that at least 22 nations will vote for referral, nine will abstain and a handful of nations will oppose the move Belarus, Cuba, Syria and Venezuela. Once that hurdle has been cleared, there will be a new dynamic at the 15-nation UN Security Council. Israel dispatched a diplomatic team to Russia in an effort to persuade Moscow that Iran should be referred to the United Nations Security Council, reports said. Israel and the United States are seeking international action -- probably sanctions -- against Iran because of its nuclear program. International tensions heightened after Iran broke the seals on nuclear facilities and announced it would resume research on uranium enrichment, a process that produces nuclear fuel for reactors or can be used to make an atomic bomb. According to the British Foreign Office, China and Russia are now saying that Iran must completely suspend its nuclear program; but there is no unanimous agreement on whether Iran should be referred to the Security Council. Israel dispatched a high-level delegation to Moscow to express Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The trip reportedly was planned a month ago. The delegation -- headed by National Security Council chief Giora Eiland and the director general of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Gideon Frank -- will try to persuade Russia to refer Iran to the Security Council, media reports said. The support of Russia and China is crucial since they are permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council, and thus could scuttle any effort to impose sanctions or other punitive measures on Iran. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev would not confirm media reports about the trip to Russia, but he said that Israel is eager to see the issue of Iran referred to the U.N. Security Council. "We hope that the organized international community will, through the vehicle of the Security Council, present the extremist regime in Tehran with a clear dilemma. Either they totally cease their nuclear weapons development program or they seriously endanger their relationship with the community of nations," Regev said. Regev declined to comment on whether Israel would also send a delegation to China. But he did say that Israel is speaking with everyone. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that sanctions are not the best way to handle the situation with Iran. Instead, Russia wants to resume talks with Iran -- but only if Iran continues its moratorium on uranium enrichment. Russian President Vladimir Putin is pressing for Iran to agree to a proposal in which Iranian uranium would be enriched in Russia - under Russian supervision. Iran has said it is studying the proposal. "China believes that under the current situation, all relevant side should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement reacting to the London meeting. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel could not allow "anyone with these kinds of malicious designs against us, to have control of weapons of destruction that can threaten our existence." Asked at a press conference about the possibility of Israeli military action, Olmert replied, "The state of Israel cannot reconcile itself to a situation in which there is a threat against us" - and neither can Europe or the United States, he added. On the other hand Iran's nuclear programme centres the talks of the Russian and French foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Philippe Douste-Blazy, in Moscow. Douste-Blazy arrived in Russia at the invitation of Lavrov for the first time in the capacity of foreign minister. He said that the world community "should join efforts as soon as possible and resume the negotiations with Iran with consideration for the resumption of the nuclear activity of Tehran". Lavrov told Russian President Vladimir Putin this week that he would discuss with his French counterpart the "Iran problem with special attention". He said that the exchange of views on this issue would be held "in the light of the London meeting of the heads of foreign ministers of the European troika, the US, Russia and China". According to Putin's order, the Russian side "is going to act maximally accurately and avoid excessive sharp movement that can artificially make additional problems and exacerbate the situation", Lavrov said. "Our absolute priority in this matter is securing inviolability of the regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he said. Following the International Atomic Energy Agency's announcement it will convene an emergency meeting on Iran's recently resumed uranium enrichment programme, Iran's ambassador to the UN atomic watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said his country will cease cooperation with the IAEA upon referral of its nuclear activities to the UN Security Council. "All the activities which we are voluntarily doing in accordance with additional protocols, including the complementary accesses (and) short notice access that we have granted... even to the military sites, will not be continued any more," Soltanieh said in an interview with BBC, soon after the UN said the IAEA's board of governors voted to hold on 2 February a special meeting on Iran - requested by Britain, France and Germany (the so-called EU3). The EU3 last week decided to refer Iran's nuclear programme to the Security Council, after Tehran broke the IAEA seals on equipment used to produce enriched uranium, ending their suspension of those activities. The trio has been attempting to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions, offering it technological and economic incentives to do so, but Tehran maintains it has a sovereign right to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which it is a signatory. Soltanieh reiterated that Iran's nuclear research is solely for peaceful purposes and Tehran is not seeking a stand-off with the international community, saying the gate to negotiations is "still wide open". He added that as the IAEA is monitoring Iran's nuclear facilities, there is no way the country can secretly be developing nuclear weapons - as the US and other countries suspect. Earlier this week, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told Newsweek magazine that after three years of intensive work, the UN's nuclear watchdog cannot verify that Iran's nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful. "If they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponisation programme along the way, they are really not very far a few months from a weapon," he said. |
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