US Occupation of Iraq is ILLEGAL: Saudi King
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US Occupation of Iraq is ILLEGAL: Saudi King
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
The International Herald Tribune - Mar 29, 2007
http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?id=5070005
Saudi king tells Arab leaders that US occupation of Iraq is illegal
By Hassan M. Fattah
RIYADH: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has told Arab leaders that the
U.S. occupation of Iraq is illegal and warned that unless Arab
governments settle their differences, foreign powers like the United
States will continue to dictate the region's politics.
The king's speech Wednesday, at the opening of the Arab League summit
meeting here, underscored growing differences between Saudi Arabia and
the Bush administration as the Saudis take on a greater leadership role
in the Middle East, partly at U.S. urging.
The Saudis seem to be emphasizing that they will not be beholden to the
policies of their longtime ally.
They brokered a deal between the two main Palestinian factions last
month, but one that Israel and the United States found deeply
problematic because it added to the power of the radical group Hamas
rather than the more moderate Fatah.
On Wednesday, Abdullah called for an end to the international boycott
of the new Palestinian government. The United States and Israel want
the boycott continued.
In addition, Abdullah this month invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
of Iran to Riyadh, while the Americans want him shunned.
And in trying to settle the tensions in Lebanon, the Saudis have been
willing to negotiate with Iran and Hezbollah.
Last week, the Saudi king canceled his appearance next month at a White
House dinner in his honor, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The
official reason given was a scheduling conflict, the paper said.
Mustapha Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the
University of Jordan, said the Saudis were sending Washington a
message. "They are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their allies
rather than imposing decisions on them and always taking Israel's
side," Hamarneh said.
In his speech, the king said: "In the beloved Iraq, the bloodshed is
continuing under an illegal foreign occupation and detestable
sectarianism. The blame should fall on us, the leaders of the Arab
nation, with our ongoing differences, our refusal to walk the path of
unity. All that has made the nation lose its confidence in us."
Abdullah has not publicly spoken so harshly about the U.S.-led military
intervention in Iraq before, and his latest remarks suggest that his
alliance with Washington may be less harmonious than administration
officials have been hoping.
Since last summer, the administration has asserted that a realignment
is occurring in the Middle East, one that groups Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Jordan and Lebanon along with Israel against Iran, Syria and the
militant groups those countries back, Hezbollah of Lebanon and Hamas.
Washington has urged Riyadh to take a leading role in such a
realignment but is finding itself disappointed by the results.
Some in Riyadh said the king's speech was in fact a response to
comments Monday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on Arab
governments to "begin reaching out to Israel."
Many read Rice's comments as suggesting that the administration was
backing away from its support for an Arab initiative aimed at solving
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel wants the Arabs to make
changes in the terms, most notably the call for a right of return for
Palestinian refugees to what is today Israel. The Arab League is
endorsing the initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia in 2002,
without changes.
The plan calls on Israel to withdraw from all land it won in the 1967
war in exchange for full diplomatic relations with the Arab world. It
also calls for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Regarding the Palestinians, the king said Wednesday, "It has become
necessary to end the unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people
as soon as possible so that the peace process can move in an atmosphere
far from oppression and force."
With regard to Iraq, the Saudis seem to be paying some attention to
internal U.S. politics. The Senate on Tuesday backed legislation
calling for a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq in exchange for further
funding for the war.
Last November, officials in Riyadh realized that a Democratic upset
could spell major changes for the Middle East: a possible pullout from
Iraq, fueling further instability and, more important, allowing Iran to
extend its influence in the region.
"I don't think that the Saudi government has decided to distance itself
from Bush just yet," said Adel al-Toraifi, a columnist here with close
ties to the Saudi government. "But I also think that the Saudis have
seen that the ball is moving into the court of the Democrats, and they
want to extend their hand to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi."
Turki al-Rasheed, who runs a organization promoting democracy in Saudi
Arabia, said the king was "saying we may be moving on the same track,
but our ends are different."
"Bush wants to make it look like he is solving the problem," Rasheed
said. "The king wants to actually solve the problems."
Abdullah said the loss of confidence in Arab leaders had allowed U.S.
and other forces to hold significant sway in the region.
"If confidence is restored, it will be accompanied by credibility," he
said, "and if credibility is restored, then the winds of hope will
blow, and then we will never allow outside forces to define our future
nor allow banners to be raised in Arab lands other than those of
Arabism, brothers."
The Saudis sought to enforce discipline on the two-day summit
conference, reminding Arab leaders and dignitaries to stay on message
and leave with some kind of solution in hand.
"The weight of the Saudis has ensured that this will be a problem-free
summit," said Ayman Safadi, editor in chief of the Jordanian daily Al
Ghad. "Nobody is going to veer from the message and go against the
Saudis. But that doesn't mean the problems themselves will be solved."
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon of the United Nations gave a stark
assessment in an address to the meeting, saying in unsparing language
that the region was "more complex, more fragile and more dangerous than
it has been for a very long time."
There is a shocking daily loss of life in Iraq, the South Korean said,
and Somalia is in the grip of "banditry, violence and clan rivalries."
Iran, which on Saturday had sanctions imposed against it by the
Security Council for the second time, is "forging ahead with its
nuclear program heedless of regional and international concerns," Ban
added.
[Nada Bakri contributed reporting from Beirut, Rasheed Abou-Alsamh from
Jidda and Warren Hoge from Riyadh.]
© 2007 The International Herald Tribune
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