November 3, 2006

THE SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO THE US: AMERICA CAME INTO IRAQ UNINVITED, IT SHOULD NOT LEAVE IRAQ UNINVITED, THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENGAGE WITH THE UNITED STATES IN HOW AND WHERE AND THE WHEREWITHAL OF THE KIND OF RELATIONSHIP THEY WILL HAVE WITH EACH OTHER WHEN AMERICAN FORCES WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ. PRINCE KHALID BIN SULTAN IN AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE US. THE OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN OF THE INTERIOR MINISTRY: NO FOREIGN PRESENCE IN THE REGIONAL SAUDI WATERS. Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Turki Al-Faisal delivered the keynote address at the National Council on US-Arab Relations' 15th annual Arab-US Policymakers' Conference in Washington. In his remarks, Prince Turki discussed Saudi Arabian constitutional evolution in light of the Allegiance Institution, which the Kingdom established recently in order to formalize the royal succession. The Institution will consist of a committee of princes that will vote on the appointment of future Saudi kings and crown princes. The formation of the Allegiance Institution is significant because it is an amendment to Saudi Arabia's Basic Law of Governance and because it illustrates the principles that have guided the Kingdom since its formation, Prince Turki said. In addition, it is an evolution of the traditional Arab role of consultation in determining succession that dates back to the Caliph Omar. Prince Turki also took questions on a number of topics, including Saudi-US relations, Iraq, the Kingdom's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Middle East peace process, and reforms in the Kingdom. On Iraq Prince Turki said: Iraq is an issue of primary concern to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and I've continued to say since I've come here that since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited. And by that I mean that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government should engage with the United States in how and where and the wherewithal of the kind of relationship they will have with each other when American forces withdraw from Iraq. We have never held back on any ideas as far not just Iraq but any issue of concern to us in the area with our American counterparts. On the issue of Iraq, before, during and after the military invasion took place, we shared our views with your officials clearly and above board and publicly because we don't think there is anything to hide here. It is a vital interest to you as well as to us that Iraq remains a unified country. Those who call for a partition of Iraq are calling for a three-fold increase in the problems rather than a unified Iraq provides for all of us. And although I heard earlier from my good friend and colleague in terms of a study on Iraq that he made Mr. Nawaf Obaid - on the inevitability, in his view, of the partition of Iraq, or the civil war some of you will say erupting and others will say that it is already there in Iraq. My view on that issue is that it is practically impossible for Iraq to be divided on sectarian lines, or even on ethnic lines. There is just too much intermingling of Iraqis with each other in every part of Iraq. We see now, within the Shi'a community in Iraq, those who promote regional autonomy and those who opposed regional autonomy. Why? Because those who oppose regional autonomy live in a mostly majority non-Shi'a sections of Iraq. If you take Baghdad, which is in the center of Iraq and which presumably, if there is a partition in Iraq, will be along the Sunni part of Iraq, how will you divide Baghdad? Baghdad has a majority Shi'a population. It has more Kurds living in it than in all of the cities in Kurdistan. And if you take in the south, in the Basra area, there are more than 35 percent Shi'a Arabs living in the south and another 5 or 10 percent Kurds and other nationalities living in the south. How are you going to remove them from that Shi'a sector or Iraq? If you go to the north in Kurdistan, all the cities in Kurdistan, whether it is Arbil or Sulaimaniya or any of the other cities, have Arab and both Shi'a and Sunni and Turkoman and other subdivisions of Iraq living in them. To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale, and the uprooting of families and even the divorce rate in Iraq will shoot up 300 percent because a husband who is a Sunni will divorce his Shi'a wife, and a Shi'a wife will Shi'a husband will divorce his Sunni wise, and a Kurdish mother will disown her half-Arab children, et cetera. It is just, in my view, impossible to do that. What we see today is an expression of the first of all, the lack of authority of the government, which encourages people to turn to their basic sectarian and ethnic divides for self-protection. Hence, the rise in militias and so on that, some of them, for political reasons, others for material gain or even for simply criminal activity, undertake the killings and the dislodgings that have been practiced in the last two years in Iraq. But this is not going to continue like that. Our hopes and our engagement with the Maliki government is to encourage them to extend their authority over all of Iraq and provide the daily requirements of stability and security that any society deserves anywhere in the world today. And by doing that, you can go a long way in meeting the challenges of the insurgency that takes place in Iraq. In the US Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs Prince Khalid Bin Sultan chaired a meeting of the Strategic Joint Planning Committee (JPC) at the Pentagon in Washington. The JPC aims to enhance interaction between the Saudi and the US militaries and to support the Kingdom's efforts to upgrade its military capabilities. The meeting was attended by the head of the American training mission in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi military attaché in the US. Prince Khalid met with Vice President Dick Cheney for discussions on various issues of mutual interest. The US Vice-President Dick Cheney received Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Defense and Aviation Minister for Military Affairs. Prince Khalid conveyed to Cheney the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General. Speaking on the occasion, Cheney highlighted the existing friendly relations between the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US. Cheney exchanged views with Prince Khalid on issues of mutual interest. In the evening, Prince Khalid attended a reception held in his honor by the US Department of Defense. The prince was welcomed by a number of senior defense officials. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs, arrived in Washington last Monday. He was welcomed by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, The Saudi Ambassador to the US, other princes and senior officials. The Saudi Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz headed the Saudi delegation at the joint meeting of the strategic planning committee which concluded its deliberations at pentagon. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan, then, met US Secretary of State for Naval Affairs Donald Winter. During the meeting, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed issues of mutual interest. Also, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan met US Air Force Chief of Staff General Ted Moseley. During the meeting, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed issues of mutual interest. Later, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan met US Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld who welcomed him and his accompanying delegation and wished the prince "good stay." Rumsfeld asserted the strong relations between USA and the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia. He also asked Prince Khalid Bin Sultan to convey the greetings of the US President to Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation And Inspector General, whishing him good health and continuous progress and prosperity for the Saudi people. On his part, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan expressed his thanks for the generous hospitality and reception. He also conveyed him the greeting of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier And Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. Later, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan met US Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Edmund Giambastiani. During the meeting, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed issues of mutual interest. Later, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan visited the Saudi military attaché in USA, Colonel Ali Bin Saleh Al-Rakaf. He was received there by a number of officials. The Saudi Military Attache delivered a speech in which he welcomed the prince and his accompanying delegation and noted the continuous support and follow up made by Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation And Inspector General and his assistant for military affairs. Then, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan delivered a speech in which he expressed his happiness to be with them. "The directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General were to develop the ministry of defence and to overcome all shortcomings. Therefore, committees were formed to develop the abilities of the ministry of defense in all sectors," Prince Khalid Bin Sultan said. Then, the Saudi military attaché in the USA presented a memorial gift to Prince Khalid Bin Sultan on this occasion. He also listened to a briefing on the Saudi military attaché office in the US. In London a team of Saudi academicians specialized in archaeology has started its visit to Britain. The members of the team will participate in the cultural week organized by the Saudi embassy in London in cooperation with the Scottish Royal Museum and the British Royal Museum. The cultural week will continue up to November 3, 2006. Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland, expressed happiness for the visit of the team to Britain, and hoped that the members of the team would successfully shed light on the efforts of the Saudi government for the preservation of antiquities. The members of the team are scheduled to deliver lectures on archeology in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and means for the preservation of the antiquities. They will also meet a number of British archaeologists and visit the British museums. In New Delhi New Delhi, Saudi Ambassador to India Saleh Bin Mohammed Al-Ghamdi pointed out that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is against terrorism in all its forms. Delivering a lecture on Islam and the West at foreign service institute of Indian foreign ministry before diplomats participating in the 41st professional session of foreign diplomats, he said that Islam is a religion of moderation and that the kingdom, the cradle of Islam, strongly calls for moderation, tolerance and coexistence. The Ambassador noted that the kingdom sees moderation as the best way and the sharpest weapon to fight extremism and fanaticism. The Ambassador indicated that some malicious circles have launched a campaign in the recent years to attribute a terror charge to the kingdom through publication of lies and fabricated allegations which have proved false. He stressed that the kingdom does not approve the idea of clashes of civilizations and rejects division of the world on ideological or religious bases. On the other hand the official spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior General Mansour Al-Turki stressed that no foreign forces are guarding regional Saudi waters and that the Saudi Navy is the sole responsible for the protection of oil plants in Ras Tanoura. He stressed that all Saudi borders are protected by Saudi forces and coordination between the Ministry of Interior and the Navy is taking place to ensure the protection of land and sea borders by Saudis.