U.S. Officials React to Saudi Condemnation Abdullah Says Iraq Under "Illigitimate Foreign Occupation" at Arab Summit By SANDRA HERNANDEZ Posted 1 hr. 33 min. ago Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi King Abdullah attends the Arab Summit, 28 March 2007 in Riyadh. Hassan Amar/AFP/Getty Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi King Abdullah attends the Arab Summit, 28 March 2007 in Riyadh.
In the latest sign that traditional U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is charting its own course in the Middle East, King Abdullah condemned the U.S. presence in Iraq as an "illegitimate foreign occupation" while speaking at the Arab summit in Riyadh, eliciting restrained reactions from Washington. "In beloved Iraq, blood flows between brothers in the shadow of illegitimate foreign occupation and hateful sectarianism, threatening a civil war," King Abdullah said in remarks to the Arab League Thursday, according to Reuters. A U.S. official called the remarks extraordinary, "given that Riyadh has officially recognized the Iraqi government and accepted post- invasion U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq," the Los Angeles Times reported. Still, most U.S. officials were at pains to refute the charge without antagonizing Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally and its second-largest oil supplier after Canada. "When it comes to the coalition forces being in Iraq, we are there under the U.N. Security Council resolutions and at the invitation of the Iraqi people," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Reactions at the State Department were even more conciliatory. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that King Abdullah's comments had been misinterpreted or mistranslated and expressed confidence that the remarks would not upset U.S.-Saudi relations. "Everyone shares a common interest in seeing an Iraq that is whole and that is free and that is at peace and prosperous for all Iraqis," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in response to the remarks, according to Reuters. King Abdullah's remarks were the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is taking its own initiative in shaping regional politics, rather than deferring to U.S. policies. Last February, it hosted talks where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to work with rival faction Hamas, which the U.S. lists as a terrorist organization. And earlier this month, Saudi Arabia hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a bilateral summit in Riyadh, raising the awkward prospect of an alliance between the U.S.'s foremost Arab ally and its strongest antagonist in the region. A host of topics were discussed in the early rounds of the two-day summit where King Abdullah made his remarks. Among them was the standoff between Britain and Iran over the latter's seizure of fifteen marines in a contested waterway separating Iran and Iraq. Iran does not belong to the Arab League, a group of 22 mostly Arabic- speaking nations in the Middle East and North Africa. On Mar 29, 1:52 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > As if its worse than a mountain of naked people in the Abu Ghraib or > Guantanamo style or with secret prisons according to the WASHINGTON > CONVENTIONS !!!! and she suddenly transmogrified from a UK marine to a > mother ... Brits are truly hilarious !!! > > http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=43780 > > Tensions rise between Iran, UK, as sailors remain captive > By: Katie Allison Granju, Producer > > LONDON - Britain said Thursday that it would seek United Nations > condemnation of Iran for taking its 15 Royal Navy crewmembers last > week, as the dispute over the fate of the crew grew. > Iran, however, said Britain had mishandled the situation and said it > would not release Britain's lone female crewmember as it said it would > because it was increasing international pressure. > > Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, chastised Britain for having > "an incorrect attitude" and warned that release of any of the captives > may not be imminent. > > Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that the promised release of sailor > Faye Turney would be suspended. And Larijani, head of Iran's supreme > national security council, hinted on Iranian state radio that the crew > could be put on trial, saying, "This case may face a legal path." > > Britain insisted that it was not seeking a confrontation over the > crew, even as the exchange of words and demands between the two > nations escalated in tit-for-tat fashion. > > FIND MORE STORIES IN: Iraq | Iran | Iran | London | Britain | British > | Tony Blair | Mottaki | Larijani > > ON DEADLINE: Iran backs off release > > MORE:Iran delays release of female captive > > On Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, had told > BBC television that Turney would be "released very soon." Mottaki also > said that Iran would allow British diplomats to visit the crew, > although he didn't say when. > > Iran maintains that the British crew was taken into custody after > trespassing into its territorial waters in a narrow waterway that > separates Iran from Iraq. Britain, however, says the crew was > conducting a routine anti-smuggling inspection of a merchant ship 1.7 > miles inside Iraqi waters when the crewmembers were "ambushed" by > Iranian gunboats. > > The mounting crisis has kept oil prices near six-month highs on > worries that a prolonged confrontation could disrupt Gulf oil > supplies. It has exacerbated tensions between Iran and the West, which > already were high over disputes about Iran's uranium enrichment > program. Iran says its nuclear program is to generate power. The West > fears that it could be turned into weapon production. > > After failing to gain the crew's release through quiet diplomatic > channels, the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair > ratcheted up the pressure on Iran on Wednesday. It cut off trade and > travel contact with Iran, made public the satellite coordinates of the > crew and vowed to bring international pressure on the Iranian > government. > > Larijani said, "British leaders have miscalculated this issue" and > were making a "fuss" over the dispute. > > British newspapers expressed outrage at having the crew paraded before > television cameras and in response to a letter that Turney allegedly > wrote to her parents, in which she wrote that the crew had > "apparently" entered Iran's territorial waters. > > "We were out in the boats when we were arrested by Iranian forces as > we had apparently gone into Iranian waters," the letter, a copy of > which was sent to The Associated Press, said. "I wish we hadn't > because then I'd be home with you all right now." > > The Daily Mail of London found the TV footage disgusting. "A British > mother paraded on state TV. Forced to wear the hijab," it blared on > Page One. > > And most editorial writers warned that Iran was severely damaging its > credibility in the world at a time when it couldn't afford it by > continuing to insist that the crew had trespassed. > > "All it does is isolate Iran further," The Daily Telegraph of London > wrote. "Enlightened self-interest, as well as simple justice, demands > the captives' release immediately." > > Although the crisis appeared to be spinning out of control, Middle > East analyst Rosemary Hollis with London's Chatham House international > think tank said that it still could be resolved without further > escalation. > > The key, she said, is for Britain to focus on the actual dispute over > the location of the incident and to ensure that the crew is not > punished for any perceived disagreement over their precise location. > > The worst scenario, Hollis said, is to give Iran any cause to turn the > incident into a wider fight against the United States and the West > over its nuclear program or allow the crew to be turned into hostages > that could be swapped. > > U.S. forces in Iraq are holding five Iranian officials who were taken > into custody in January in northern Iraq in an Iranian liaison office. > The officials had been suspected of having ties aimed at targeting > Iraqi and coalition forces. > > So far, Iran has said the current incident is not linked to any other > issue. > > Contributing: Wire reports -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
