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June 9, 2006 |
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THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES AND KING ABDULLAH II STRESS THEIR REFUSAL OF ANY UNILATERAL ISRAELI SOLUTION AND THEIR SUPPORT TO THE DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION IN IRAN. LARSEN CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE REGION. AMRE MOUSSA CALLS ON ISRAEL TO ACCEPT THE ARAB PEACE INITIATIVE. NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON THE IRAQI AND IRANIAN ARENAS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and King Abdullah II of Jordan held an official round of talks at King Abdullah Ibn Adul Aziz's farm in Al Janadriya, on the outskirts of capital Riyadh. At the outset of the session, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan in his second country, wishing him and his accompanying delegation good stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On his part, the Jordanian King thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to him and his delegation. Then they discussed the overall developments at the Arab, Islamic and international arenas, topped by the Palestinian issue and the situation in Iraq and aspects of cooperation between the two countries and peoples. On the saudi side, the meeting was attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Prince Mit'eb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Prince Badr Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Commander of the National Guard, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, Prince Salman Ibn Abdul aziz, Governor of Riyadh region, Prince Saud Al Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz , Deputy Governor of Riyadh region, Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz , Chief of General Intelligence, Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz , Secretary General of the National Security Council. On the Jordanian side, the meeting was attended by Chief of the Hashemite Royal Court Salim Al Turk, Director of the King's office Dr. Basem Awadallah and the Jordanian Ambassador to the Kingdom Gaftan Al Majali. King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of Jordan arrived in Riyadh on a two-day state visit to the Kingdom. He was received at King Khalid airport by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz , Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Prince Mit'eb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz , Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz , Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz , Chief of General Intelligence, other princes, senior protocol officials and Jordanian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Gaftan Al Majali. King Abdullah II was accompanied by an official delegation. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz held a dinner party at his farm in Al Janadriya, in honor of King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein of Jordan and the accompanying delegation. The function was attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz , Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Prince Mit'eb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz , Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz , Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz , Chief of General Intelligence, other princes, senior protocol officials and Jordanian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Gaftan Al Majali. King Abdullah II was accompanied by an official delegation. Saudi Arabia and Jordan rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unilateral withdrawal plan from the West Bank and urged Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace negotiations, an official said after talks between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Jordan's King Abdullah II in Riyadh. "The two kings stressed their rejection of unilateral solutions which Israel is trying to implement in the Palestinian territories," the AFP news agency quoted an official accompanying the Jordanian king as saying. The summit came on the eve of King Abdullah's meeting with Prime Minister Olmert in Amman. The two Arab leaders called for a resumption of the peace process based on an Arab initiative drawn up by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and the international road map peace plan, the Jordanian official said. They also called on Palestinian factions to "discard disputes and protect national unity," he added. The Saudi-Jordanian summit talks come against the backdrop of a new international initiative to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in coordination with Washington. It follows another summit meeting recently between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and President Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. "The two leaders discussed the latest developments at Arab, Islamic and international levels, most importantly the Palestinian issue and the situation in Iraq as well as prospects of expanding bilateral cooperation," the Saudi Press Agency said. King Abudllah II of Jordan left Riyadh after an official two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, He was seen off at the airport of Riyadh airbase by Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, other princes and senior officials. On the other hand the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud received at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General Terje Roed Larsen and the accompanying delegation. The envoy conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the UN Secretary General. The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; a number of princes and officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General Terje Roed Larsen. During the audience, they discussed UN efforts in the Middle East and topics of mutual concern. The audience was attended by a number of officials. In Cairo U.N. Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen has met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as part of a regional tour to find a solution to the Lebanese-Syrian crisis. After the meeting, Roed-Larsen said he listened to Mubarak's "advice on the issues and problems of the region, specifically those that relate to Lebanon's current condition." He said they discussed Lebanon "as part of the general condition in the Middle East and the issues that influence the implementation of resolutions 1559 and 1680." "Those are the issues that are significant in Lebanese politics," he added. Roed-Larsen is in charge of overseeing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, that was passed in 2004. It calls on foreign troops to leave Lebanon, all militias to disarm, the extension of the government's authority throughout the country and respect of the country's sovereignty and independence. Based on a report by Roed-Larsen, the U.N. Security Council last month passed Resolution 1680, that reasserted the council's commitment to the full implementation of 1559 and strongly urged Damascus to establish ties with Lebanon and delineate the common border. Roed-Larsen also said that he discussed with Mubarak regional developments and their impact on the Lebanese-Syrian crisis. They talked about the Iranian nuclear standoff with the west and the situation in the Palestinian Territories and Israel. "The current condition in the Middle East is becoming more complicated and dangerous than before. Conflicts in the region are developing quickly and are affecting one another." There is "a need to deal with all of these crises as a single one." Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah met at his office in Riyadh with visiting Special envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations Terje Roed Larsen. During the meeting, they reviewed the latest political developments and efforts of the UN in supporting peace, security and stability issues in the region. On the other hand the Arab League has called on the Israeli people and political powers in Israel to recognize the Arab initiative for peace in the Middle East that envisages normalising ties with Israel. In a statement issued by the Arab League the Assistant Secretary General for Palestinian Affairs Mohammed Sobaih said we call on Israel to recognize the Beirut Arab initiative. The Arab Initiative, adopted at the Beirut summit in 2002, calls on Arab governments to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Arab territories according to the 1967 borders and the establishment of a Palestinian state. On the Palestinian arena as the 10-day ultimatum given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ended, differences among Palestinian factions remained mounting. Abbas' aides spoke about the failure of the inter-Palestinian talks, known as the national dialogue. But the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and its sister group the Islamic jihad rejected the remarks of failure and said "it didn't begin yet." "The circulations about the national dialogue's failure aim at easing carrying out the referendum," Khaled al-Batsh, senior Islamic Jihad member in Gaza told reporters on Tuesday. "The referendum draws the people to say their word over the conflict with the enemy in a way that gives the enemy a right in Palestine," he added. President Abbas opened on May 25 a national dialogue by asking Palestinian factions to accept and adopt within ten days the National Accordance filed by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, or he would put the proposal to a referendum within 40 days. The prisoners' document calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories that were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Document of National Accordance, also known as Prisoners' Document, contradicts with both Hamas and Islamic Jihad's charters that call for the destruction of Israel. Hamas, which leads the government, and the Islamic Jihad, which doesn't run on the political stage, have boycotted the following sessions of the dialogue after Abbas' ultimatum. "Neither we or Hamas took part in the dialogue, so how can it ends," al-Batsh wondered. "The dialogue is being held in Ramallah between members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization who agreed on that program (the document) before the dialogue began." Al-Batsh considered the dialogue as "internal" which involves the factions that are represented within the PLO. Meanwhile, al-Batsh denounced Abbas for his intention to hold a referendum on the Prisoners' Document and accused him of trying to get "a new record for negotiations". "It seems there are bids to confuse the public and make themloose confidence with the resistance factions to rapidly reach the referendum," said al-Batsh. "By the referendum, Abbas will get a new record for negotiations to be submitted for East and West," he said, adding "I say he doesn't need more records, they have lots of papers, and it seems he wants to embarrass the factions." But the Islamic Jihad will not participate in the referendum. Moreover, it will ask its supporters to boycott at least or vote against the Document of National Accordance, as senior Jihad member Khaled al-Batsh said. President Mahmoud Abbas is most likely expected to announce at a press conference on Saturday a presidential decree setting a date for a referendum on a two-state solution for the Palestinian Israeli conflict amid ongoing resistance to the referendum by the Hamas-led government and insistence on continuing the national dialogue to break the political deadlock. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) met in the West Bank town of Ramallah and authorized its Chairman President Mahmoud Abbas to set a date for a referendum on the "prisoners' document" by the weekend. Abbas said that preparations for the referendum were already well under way. "We are now working on the decree (allowing the referendum) and this will take a little time to complete," he told reporters after talks with the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch. "There will be an announcement at the opportune moment in one or two days' time" on the exact date, he added. The President however confirmed that the "door of dialogue is still opened" to give Hamas more time to change its negative attitude, according to the official news agency, WAFA. Abbas said after the meeting with Welch that the United States would not intervene in a Palestinian referendum, saying that the referendum is the Palestinians' "internal affair." At a joint news conference with Welch, Abbas said that he would not invite any side to come and monitor the referendum. President Mahmoud Abbas said that holding a referendum on the "National Reconciliation Document", proposed by the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, is a means rather than a target. During a joint press conference with the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Javier Solana, in Ramallah, Abbas asserted that the referendum would be held just if the dialogue failed. President called on all Palestinian factions to adopt the document of the prisoners, hoping that the dialogue will succeed. He praised the role of the EU and Solana himself in supporting the Palestinian people. Abbas said that the EU has been working for ending the political and economic siege on the Palestinian people. Mr. Solana revealed that the EU is committed to resume supporting the Palestinian people. "The Palestinian people can be assured that the EU will not let them down and we will continue to support them as much as we can. The amount of money which will be spent in the year 2006 will be more than that spent in 2005," he told the press conference. Regarding the mechanisms of supporting the Palestinian people, Solana said that EU works on a mechanism to put the money in a context of humanitarian aid in broader context and to get as many donors in the same mechanism. Solana asserted on the necessity of the Palestinian Israeli dialogue, adding that he would talk with the Israelis to launch talks. From his side Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniya þ þunderlined the government's firm stance regarding the national dialogue as the means to avoid inter-Palestinian differences.þ þ Addressing a cabinet session, Haniya said President Mahmoud Abbas' document of national conciliation, penned by Palestinians in Israeli jails, was a þsource of more confusions on the Palestinian arena.þ þ He said the Palestinian government insisted on continuity the national dialogue.þ On the other hand member of the Fatah Executive Committee Nabil Shaath said the Saudi leadership has informed him that it is ready to mediate between Fatah and Hamas in order to avoid any confrontation between them. According to Al Watan newspaper Shaath said that on behalf of Mahmoud Abbas he had a long meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz who confirmed their willingness to play several roles amongst which holding a meeting with Hamas through the Arab Troika that includes the Arab League, Egypt and Sudan or through the Arab Seven Committee that includes Saudi Arabia. Shaath who also met with Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the Saudi position towards the National Reconciliation Document is positive. In Damascus Palestinian ex-premier Ahmed Qorei met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ahead of planned crisis talks with the exiled leader of Hamas, the militant group which heads the Palestinian government. Qorei delivered a message from President Mahmoud Abbas about the national dialogue under way to try to defuse mounting tension between Hamas and the former ruling Fatah faction, the official SANA news agency said. Assad, reiterated "Syria's support for the Palestinian people's struggle" and stressed the "importance of reinforcing Palestinian national unity", SANA said. Qorei stressed the "importance of Syria's role in the region", the news agency added. On the Iraqi arena foreign minister Hoshyar Zibari stressed the Conciliation Conference will be held on the 22nd of June in Baghdad, while Amre Moussa Secretary General of the Arab League stressed the importance of the conference. Meanwhile in a bid to calm surging Shiite-Sunni sectarian strife, Maliki also ordered the release of 2,500 detainees who had not carried out acts of violence. "We have ordered release of 2,500 detainees in groups and the first group of 500 detainees will be freed tomorrow," he told reporters, adding "the step is the first one of its kind to promote national reconciliation." Maliki, under intense pressure to end violence, said that the prisoner release would free those who had no clear evidence against them or had been detained mistakenly. Maliki had cited the release of people imprisoned without just cause as one of his priorities when he took office in May. Maliki's prisoner release came at a time when his fractious, Shiite political alliance is blocking his efforts to name new interior and defense ministers, who he hoped would lead his charge against insurgents and sectarian violence. The two key security jobs were left vacant when the self-styled government of national unity took office on May 20 because of a failure to agree on names. Maliki said this week he would present his candidates to the next session of Parliament. On the Iranian arena and in a report published last Wednesday the Washington Post said the confidential diplomatic package backed by Washington and formally presented to Iran leaves open the possibility that Tehran will be able to enrich uranium on its own soil, U.S. and European officials said. That concession, along with a promise of U.S. assistance for an Iranian civilian nuclear energy program, is conditioned on Tehran suspending its current nuclear work until the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency determines with confidence that the program is peaceful. U.S. officials said Iran would also need to satisfy the U.N. Security Council that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, a benchmark that White House officials believe could take years, if not decades, to achieve. But the Bush administration and its European allies have withdrawn their demand that Iran abandon any hope of enriching uranium for nuclear power, according to several European and U.S. officials with knowledge of the offer. The new position, which has not been acknowledged publicly by the White House, differs significantly from the Bush administration's stated determination to prevent Iran from mastering technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. "We are basically now saying that over the long haul, if they restore confidence, that this Iranian regime can have enrichment at home," said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But they have to answer every concern given all that points to a secret weapons program." In private discussions among the United States and its allies concerning possible action against Iran, Germany had suggested that Iran could be allowed to continue, under strict U.N. monitoring, its current enrichment research while negotiations commenced. But the Bush administration, as well as the governments of France and Britain, disagreed, arguing that Iran must suspend the program until suspicions regarding its true nature are cleared up. The list of incentives that European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana detailed to Iranian officials here on Tuesday was endorsed by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. It contains not only the revamped American promises on enrichment but a U.S. offer to join negotiations directly if Iran suspends its program, as well as pledges of European assistance in building additional light-water nuclear power plants and support for Iranian membership in the World Trade Organization. "We had constructive talks," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, told reporters after the two-hour meeting in the palatial offices of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. "There are some positive steps in it and also some ambiguities." Larijani did not elaborate, but diplomats said the atmospherics surrounding the meeting appeared to reinforce recent assurances by Iranian officials that the new proposal would be considered seriously. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, appointed by hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, vowed to study "Europe's incentive package," a description that accentuated the proposal's positive elements. Speaking privately, a senior Iranian official said that the offer appeared to have much worthy of consideration. Talking with reporters in Laredo, Tex., President Bush said Larijani's reaction to the proposals "sounds like a positive response to me." "I want to solve this issue with Iran diplomatically. . . . We will see if the Iranians take our offer seriously. The choice is theirs to make," Bush said. The new package embodies the "robust diplomacy" that Bush endorsed, according to U.S. officials, in hopes of broadening policy options that had been narrowing to two unattractive options: military strikes on Iran's known nuclear facilities, or acquiescence to an Iranian nuclear program that was only lightly monitored by the IAEA. Diplomats said the bid also includes elements mentioned in earlier rounds of negotiations: Washington would selectively relax long-standing economic sanctions to allow the sale of spare parts for civilian airliners to Iran, as well as technology for earthquake early-warning systems and meteorological study. Like the American offer to join the talks directly, the moves signal at least the potential for further future engagement between Washington and Tehran. But a deal will pivot first on Iran's decision whether to suspend enrichment, a move it has repeatedly insisted it will not make. A diplomat said the offer reflected weeks of intense and high-level discussions in Washington and in Tehran aimed at deflecting confrontation. "Each side has taken a more serious look at what the other wants and how compromise can be reached," a Western diplomat said. In the Bush administration's view, the possibility for Iran to one day enrich uranium was "a very important part of the deal, and it's what will allow Iran to accept it," said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Iran always spun previous offers as an attempt to keep it from exercising its rights to enrich. Now that is explicitly not the case." The move also reflects a new reality: Iran announced in April that it had made advancements toward industrial-level enrichment of uranium. Iranian officials boasted that the achievement "changed the facts on the ground." Tehran likely will fight to retain that capability on a small scale. "This will be the big issue, and the Iranians will hold out, since they are already doing it anyway," the U.S. official said. To allow Iran to proceed with other elements of its nuclear program, such as bringing online a power plant nearing completion at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, the proposal suggests that Iran import enriched uranium from Russia for the duration of its own enrichment moratorium. Diplomats in Washington and European capitals now expect weeks of private contacts among European, Iranian, Russian, Chinese and U.S. officials to work out details for negotiations over the package -- talks about talks, since the package is intended to reopen formal negotiations. Officials said the latter could begin as soon as next month, if Iran agrees to take a first step forward by suspending its current research and development work. "They need time to swallow and actually digest not only the proposal but also the American moves, especially the latter," said a European diplomat resident in Iran who asked not to be identified further. "The most significant part of the package is that the Americans said they're willing to sit at the table. Everything else, I think, is minor compared to that." No formal deadline has been announced for Iran's response, although Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has described a time frame of weeks rather than months. Other diplomats said a "natural deadline" would be the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations set to begin July 15 in St. Petersburg. |
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