October 28, 2005

IN BRIEF ***** Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz issued royal decrees appointing Prince Muqrin, formerly governor of Madinah, as the head of the general intelligence. "Prince Muqrin Ibn Abdul Aziz has been appointed president of the General Intelligence with the rank of minister," said the royal decree. Prince Muqrin replaces Prince Nawaf, who was the Kingdom's intelligence chief until he was relieved of his duties by King Fahd in January. Prince Muqrin's appointment comes at a time when the Kingdom has launched a massive campaign against Al-Qaeda militants blamed for bombings and shootings in the country since May 2003. In another royal decree issued yesterday, King Abdullah relieved Prince Saud Ibn Fahd, vice president of intelligence, of his duties upon his request. Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Majed, former deputy governor of Qassim, succeeds Prince Muqrin as governor of Madinah. "Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Majed has been appointed governor of Madinah with the rank of minister," a royal decree said. Prince Muqrin thanked King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan for the new appointment. "I am happy to serve the nation in any position for which the leadership selects me," he said. He also thanked the people of Madinah for the cooperation they extended to him while he was governor of the region. ********** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a telephone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They reviewed bilateral relations and a number of regional and international issues, notably the latest developments in the Palestinian arena. ********** Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz opened the popular donations campaign, which he directed launching in all regions of the kingdom to help those who suffered from the earthquake that hit Pakistan, by donating SR10 million. The King's donation is in addition to a grant of SR500 million ordered by him to rebuild some of the infrastructure facilities in Pakistan as well as the airlift by Saudi planes to provide emergency aid to victims of the earthquake and the 50-bed, 60-physician field hospital. ********** Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, President of King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Foundation for His Parents for Developmental Housing, has approved the beginning of housing the citizens who are beneficiary of Al Nabah Village Project which is located on the western coast in the region of Madinah. The news was conveyed to Saudi Press Agency by Secretary General of the foundation Dr. Yosif Ibn Ahmad Al Othaimain. He said the developmental housing project in this village has been completed and is ready for housing needy citizens after verification of their need for housing. He stated that on behalf of King Abdullah, Prince Muqrin Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Madinah region, will patronize the opening ceremony of the project in the venue of the project in Al Nabah village. He added that during the ceremony, appropriation documents and keys of the houses will be handed to nominated citizens. The project, which included 188 houses, mosques, schools and other facilities, cost SR40 million. ********** Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, is always generous in his donations. Prince Sultan has over the year offered several donations to the Al-Ahli club the last of which a donation to cover the debts of Al-Ahli player Abdullah Sulaiman which exceeded SR 2 million and for which he was imprisoned. ********** Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, accompanied by the governors of the regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who were participating in the annual 12th meeting of the governors. The meeting was attended by Prince Ahmad Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Prince Mohammed Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs. ********** Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received the delegation of Islamic World University Chita Gong in Bangladesh headed by Dr. Abdullah Ibn Omar Naseef, President of University's Trustees Board. The Crown Prince praised the good efforts being exerted by the University, wishing it all success. Dr. Naseef briefed the Crown Prince on the University's activities and its great and remarkable role in the service of great numbers of Muslims. ********** Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General has expressed his appreciation of and thanks to Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, President of Youth Welfare and President of the Olympic Committee and personnel of Saudi Taekwondo Federation for the distinguished efforts exerted for the success of 1st Gulf Military Taekwondo Championship held in the Southern Region in the month of Rajab. The Saudi Armed Forces Team came first and won gold medals. In a cable addressed to Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Crown Prince wished success for all. In a statement on this occasion, Prince Sultan bin Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, in his own name and on behalf of personnel of youth and sports sector expressed his appreciation of and thanks to the Crown Prince for his noble feelings. ********** Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister and the Supervisor General of the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, has issued his directives to remit SR 28,479,847 from the Committee's account to UNESCO account. This development comes within the framework of the Royal directives to establish cooperation between the Committee and the UNESCO for supporting the educational programs in Palestine through UNESCO. Dr Sa'ed Al-Harethi, the Advisor of the Interior Minister and Head of the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, said the remittance comes within the framework of the articles of the agreement signed by Prince Naif and UNESCO pertaining to the financing of the educational programs in Palestine. ********** Under the directives of Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of State, member of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers around 2 million meals are being distributed to worshipers at the holy places. ********** According to the royal pardon granted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz the first batch of prisoners were freed from Hafr Al Baten prison. Prisoners who were released expressed their thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. ********** Saudi Minister of Education Dr Abdullah Ibn Saleh Al-Obeid visited the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Paris. He was welcomed at the embassy by Saudi ambassador to France Dr Mohammed Ibn Isma'il Al Al-sheikh and other officials. Dr Al-Obeid arrived in Paris to lead the Saudi delegation to the 33d session of the UNESCO's general conference. ********** The Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, has been chosen the Dubai International Holy Qur'an Award's (DIHQA) 9th Islamic Personality of the year 2005. Dr. Saeed Hareb, the vice chairman of the DIHQA Organizing Committee, made the announcement. "Dr. Al-Sudais has been selected for his devotion to the Qur'an and Islam," he said. "His remarkable and ear-catching intonation of the Qur'an during the Haj season and during the Taraweeh in the holy mosque has made him very famous and beloved among the Muslim community," said Dr. Hareb. Dr. Al-Sudais reflects a bright picture of Islam and Muslims, he said. "He became a recognized personality among the Muslim community through his Qur'an recitation and working as a specialized professor in Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence)," said Dr. Hareb. DIHQA's Organizing Committee chooses the Islamic personality of the year. The selection is carried out through nomination by states, universities and specialized institutions. Toward the end of the press conference Dr. Hareb said, "Dr. Al Sudais was selected during the normal proceedings of DIHQA, however, he was too polite to accept it. "First, he told us that he couldn't accept the award because there are other scholars who deserve it more than he does. He still considers himself a student. This was the reason for the late announcement of the award," he said. ********** The Shoura Council held a regular session under the chairmanship of its head Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid. During the session, the council approved draft cooperation agreements with a number of countries including Sudan, Singapore, Egypt and Guinea, Secretary General of the council Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Al Malik said in a press statement following the session. The Shoura Council held its 41st ordinary session chaired by its Chairman Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid. At the beginning of the session, the Council discussed the minutes of the Council's session held last Monday on its work rules. The Secretary General of the council Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Al Malik said that the Council listened to the answers of the Chairman of the Committee of Systems, Managements and Petitions Dr. Fahad Ibn Mu'tad Al-Hamad on the questions of the Council members about the annual report of the Commission of Control and Public Prosecution for the fiscal year 2002 and 2003. After voting, the Council approved the recommendations of the Committee. ********** The permanent building of the Riyadh-based Secretariat General of International Energy Forum will be opened on Shawwal 17 in a great ceremony to be attended by a number of oil ministers in major oil producers and consumers and presidents of great world oil companies. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al-Naimi praised the patronization of this project by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and his keenness on dialogue and cooperation between oil producing and consuming countries and on the stability of oil markets. He stressed that this patronization crowns the efforts exerted since the King's initiative for setting up the Secretariat during the 7th International Energy Forum held in Riyadh, 1420H. The Minister noted that the inauguration ceremony will be accompanied by a symposium in which a number of oil ministers and oil companies' presidents will participate. The discussion will focus on a number of important world oil issues. The Secretariat will contribute to the continuation and enhancement of dialogue between oil producers and consumers, Al-Naimi concluded. ********** The Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas held talks in the French capital on the disarmament of militias in Lebanon, at the initiative of the United Nations. "The main principle is that the state alone is in charge of security... and responsible for all citizens living on its territory," Siniora stressed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese Foreign Minister Fouad Siniora reiterated that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon would be treated as "guests until they return to their homes." During their Paris meeting on Tuesday Abbas and Siniora affirmed Lebanese plans to hold talks over the issue of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. They expressed hope that the talks would result in a statement from the UN Security council on the issue reported the Palestinian state news agency WAFA. Abbas commended Lebanese initiatives to ban weapons from refugee camps and the preventative measures taken to stop weapons smuggling over the border. ********** US President George W. Bush hosted an "Iftar" party on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan. The party was attended by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the US as well as Arab and Muslim ambassadors to the US and a number of prominent Islamic figures in the US. Welcoming Prince Turki Al-Faisal, President Bush conveyed his greetings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. Speaking on the occasion, President Bush congratulated the Muslims throughout the world on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan, and pointed out that the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) in this blessed month. President Bush said more than one billion Muslims have been attaching great attention to this blessed month. He noted that the Americans with their various backgrounds are keen on getting acquainted with the rich Islamic heritage. 'I have encouraged so many American families to visit the Muslim families, and at the same time I have called on the American youth to study the languages and traditions of the Middle East', he said. President Bush announced that, for the first time in the history of the US, he has decided to add a copy of the Holy Quran to the library of the White House. ' I do appreciate the role of the Muslim nations which have joined our alliance to fight terrorism, including the nations which they themselves were victims of terrorism', he said adding that 'at a time when we work together to defeat terrorism, we should be very clear about the enemy we are confronting'. Bush said a large number of Muslim scholars had slammed terrorism. "It is high time for the Muslim leaders to condemn the ideology which exploits Islam for purposes that defame Islam. Moreover, the spread of justice and tolerance will lead to peace which we are trying to realize', the President said. Bush said this occasion provides a good opportunity for the renewal of bonds of friendship between the US and the Muslim world, and to learn from each other. ********** The Office of the Islamic Relief Commission in Islamabad has allocated SR One million for the victims of the earthquake, which hit North Pakistan and North West India.The commission has urged the Islamic organizations and philanthropists in Saudi Arabia to help the victims of the earthquake by extending donations through its offices in the Kingdom and its banking account 31900010777023 at Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation or the account number 10477702000102 at the National Commercial Bank. ********** The United Kingdom cannot deport individuals to Libya without violating the international prohibition against sending persons to countries where they face a serious risk of torture, Human Rights Watch said. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the British and Libyan governments allows Britain to deport individuals to Libya if the Libyan government gives diplomatic assurances the deportees will not be subjected to torture. "Britain can't hide behind the fig leaf of Libyan diplomatic promises," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch. "Deporting suspects to Libya would put them at serious risk of torture." The first deportees could be five Libyan nationals detained by British authorities on October 3 under immigration law because their presence in Britain allegedly threatens national security or is otherwise "not conducive to the public good." ********** US President George W. Bush notified Congress October 17 of his intention to sign the recently concluded free-trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Oman. US.Trade Representative Rob Portman and Omani Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool Bin Ali Sultan announced the completion of the agreement October 3 after only seven months of negotiations. Oman is the fifth country in the Middle East and North Africa to conclude an FTA with the United States. The American trade attache Rob Portman said in a joint press conference with the Omani minister of commerce and the economy Maqboul Bin Ali Bin Sultan "we have finalized a complete and important trade agreement that will encourage exchanges between our two countries," considering that this treaty will be an "example" to be followed for other agreements. Portman stressed that the new agreement falls in the course of the objective set by the American President George W. Bush to establish a free trade exchange area in all parts of the Middle East by the fall of 2013, hoping that the Congress will approve it quickly. Two-way trade in goods between the United States and Oman totalled $748 million in 2004, and U.S. foreign direct investment in 2003 in Oman was $358 million, according to a USTR fact sheet. For his part, Bin Sultan said that "the negotiations only lasted for seven months," noting that the good relations between the two countries allowed quick conclusion to the talks. ********** Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's Shikmim Farm in the Negev was almost hit by a Kassam rocket. Security forces found the remains of the rocket about 250 meters south of the Sharon family residence. The assumption is that the rocket was fired three weeks ago during a massive Palestinian rocket attack on Sderot and environs, in which five people were injured. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman says that security forces told him this was not the first time a rocket was fired towards Sharon's farm. ********** During a meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri called for the convening of a conference to discuss the Palestinian cause. Berri, who is president of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, made the proposal during a coordination meeting for the inauguration of the 113th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. The speaker had arrived in the Swiss capital as the head of Lebanon's delegation to the meetings. Berri's proposal outlined holding a conference for the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in which observers from regional parliamentary unions, the Islamic Parliamentary Union and civil society organizations would gather to discuss the situation in Palestine. He said the meeting will probably be held in March or April of next year. The Lebanese speaker also informed delegates from the region that he is seeking to secure the necessary funds to build an Arab Parliament. ********** The Jordanian Prime Minister Adnan Badran unveiled that Jordan will give the United Kingdom assurances that it will not prosecute to death any Jordanian detainees extradited from Britain. Jordan and Britain signed a security agreement in Amman under which they agreed to extradite wanted suspects. Under the agreement, a suspect in either country will be extradited after his or her human and civil rights are guaranteed, including the right to a defense lawyer and a fair and transparent trial. In conformity with the agreement, British authorities are expected to hand over to Jordan wanted Muslim fundamentalist Mahmoud Othman, code-named Abu Katada. Abu Katada was sentenced in absentia by Jordan's state security court to 15 years in prison on charges of financing extremist groups that carried out bombing attacks in Amman in 1998. British authorities also suspect Abu Katada of links with al-Qaida and eventually arrested him in 2001, confiscated his passport and froze his bank accounts in accordance with anti-terror laws. ********** Bahraini Government officials are reportedly trying to find out whether any of the six Bahraini detainees at the notorious Guantanamo Bay camp are taking part in a hunger strike. Foreign Ministry officials are reportedly seeking answers from US authorities, according to lawyers representing the six. Lawyers representing the Bahraini six say they are being denied information by the US authorities. "We were pleased to learn that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inquire about the health of our clients at Guantanamo Bay, who may be participating in a very serious hunger strike," Mr Colangelo-Bryan said yesterday. "Without the assistance of the Foreign Ministry, we may not be able to get any information about the physical condition of some of our clients. "In fact, it has become clear that authorities at Guantanamo will do everything in their power to prevent us from learning about the condition of our clients. The six Bahraini detainees at Guantanamo Bay are Juma Mohammed Al Dossary, Essa Al Murbati, Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi, Adel Kamel Hajee, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Abdulla Majid Al Naimi. ********** The European Union has agreed to slap a ban on pet bird imports from the rest of the world, in its latest attempt to stop the spread of avian influenza across the continent. The ban, initially valid for a month, came amid reports of a possible outbreak in Germany, which if confirmed would have been the first among birds in the wild in western Europe. German officials have since said that they are almost certain the birds died from poison and carried a harmless flu virus. Concern was also raised by the discovery of a lethal strain of bird flu in a parrot that died while in quarantine in Britain. The EU import ban was agreed in Brussels by veterinary experts from the EU's 25 member states, based on proposals drawn up urgently by the European Commission following the British case. "These measures... aim to strengthen further the EU's defenses against avian influenza," said the commission in a statement. ********** French President Jacques Chirac said "terrorist risk is real in France" and called on the nation to remain totally mobilized to face that. He made the remarks at the weekly ministers meeting of his government and shortly after Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy presented an anti-terrorism bill to the cabinet. The bill would stiffen prison sentences for convicted terrorists, strengthen the use of surveillance cameras and require telephone operations to keep records for at least one year for investigators tracking suspected terror networks. Chirac said what's required is to permanently adapt the provisions to the risk development and in anticipation. The bill would grant anti-terrorist officials greater access to airline passenger lists, driver licenses, passports and identity card information. The bill is scheduled to be handed over for the adoption of the two houses of French parliament before the end of the year. ********** Tony Blair is facing a political backlash over his decision to order a new generation of nuclear weapons to replace the ageing Trident fleet at a cost of billions of pounds. Rebel Labour MPs will meet tomorrow to coordinate their fight against his plans, which seem set to provoke one of the biggest shows of opposition to Mr Blair from inside his own party since the start of the Iraq war. Opposition to an updated version of Trident goes far beyond MPs who object to nuclear weapons on principle. It includes senior figures in the military, who question whether this is the best way to spend a tight military budget. A senior defence department source told the Independent that there was "a serious debate" going on "at all levels" over the long-term role of the armed forces and whether a nuclear deterrent was still needed. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is believed to have privately queried the huge cost. An indication of the sums involved was revealed last week when the Defence Secretary, John Reid, released updated figures showing that Britain's nuclear bomb factory at Aldermaston has been given a £2bn budget for the next three years. The cost of running the Atomic Weapons Establishment has averaged £300m a year, at current prices, since 2000. Next year's costs will jump to £507m, rising still higher to about £1.5bn over the next two years. Officially, the task of Aldermaston's scientists is to ensure that the Trident fleet is kept in working order. Their real task, according to military sources, is to make sure that the scientific know-how is in place to create a whole new generation of nuclear weapons as soon as a political decision has been made. The Independent revealed in May that Mr Blair had decided to go ahead with a replacement for Trident, at a total cost likely to exceed £10bn, but that he was delaying the announcement until after the general election. ********** Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov denied a British newspaper report alleging that former members of the Russian military have been secretly helping Iran to make missiles capable of hitting European capitals. "It's delirium, nonsense," said Ivanov, questioned by journalists in New Delhi, where he was attending joint Russian-Indian military exercises. Russia aims "to observe scrupulously the non-proliferation regime," Interfax and RIA-Novosti news agencies quoted Ivanov as saying in response to a report in Britain's Sunday Telegraph. Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov also rejected the report's allegations. "There were already these kind of articles around ten years ago, and I have not heard about interrogations on this subject since then," Lavrov told journalists in Moscow. The Russian foreign minister urged cooperation towards "a common goal of ensuring the inviolability of the non-proliferation regime of nuclear weapons" instead of "searching through history to try to gain political advantages." "Today, one of the most acute problems is the Iranian nuclear programme," Lavrov said. "If we look at history, here there are more questions to ask Western companies." ********** A review by former intelligence officers has concluded that the Bush administration "apparently paid little or no attention" to prewar assessments by the Central Intelligence Agency that warned of major cultural and political obstacles to stability in postwar Iraq. The unclassified report was completed in July 2004. It appeared publicly for the first time this week in Studies in Intelligence, a quarterly journal, and was first reported Wednesday in USA Today. The journal is published by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, which is part of the C.I.A. but operates independently. The review was conducted by a team led by Richard J. Kerr, a former deputy director of central intelligence, working under contract for the C.I.A. It acknowledged the deep failures in the agency's prewar assessments of Iraq's weapons programs but said "the analysis was right" on cultural and political issues related to postwar Iraq. Mr. Kerr's review did not describe those findings in detail. But The New York Times first reported last year that two classified reports prepared for President Bush in January 2003 had predicted that an American-led invasion of Iraq would increase support for political Islam and would result in a deeply divided Iraqi society prone to violent internal conflict. Those reports were by the National Intelligence Council, the highlevel group responsible for producing the government's most authoritative intelligence assessments. Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies have been notably more gloomy than the White House and the Pentagon about prospects for stability in Iraq. In the summer of 2004, newspaper articles about those reports so angered some Republicans that they accused the agency of trying to undermine President Bush. The role played by prewar intelligence on postwar Iraq has not yet been the subject of a comprehensive independent review. The Senate Intelligence Committee was to have addressed the issue as part of a second phase of its inquiry that began with a study of the intelligence on Iraq's weapons program. But the Republican-led committee has shown no sign of producing a report, prompting complaints from Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and other Democrats. A White House spokesman, Frederick Jones, disputed any suggestion that the administration had fallen short in its postwar planning. "Our position is that we did plan adequately for the postwar period," Mr. Jones said. The C.I.A. declined to comment, and Mr. Kerr did not respond to an e-mail message. A former senior intelligence official said Mr. Kerr's conclusions were "broadly correct." Still, the former official said, "some in the policy-making world would probably deny that these points were brought forcefully to their attention." ********** Iraq is likely to take up to a decade to become a stable democracy, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has predicted. Speaking on a BBC television programme, Straw added that this estimate was in fact "optimistic", given the experience of other countries after wars or similar momentous changes. Asked on the "Newsnight" programme when he expected Iraq to be a stable democracy, Straw said: "I am optimistic about Iraq, I think in five to 10 years we will see it becoming stable." He continued: "I think if you compare nation-building in other situations, after the war in Europe, building up stable nations from the collapse of the Soviet Union, look at Afghanistan, I think that's a reasonable prospect. "One of the things that makes me optimistic about what has been a very bloody situation over the past two-and-a-half years is the determination of Iraqis to follow the timetable set by the United Nations for the major milestones toward setting up their own government and constitutional apparatus." Straw was speaking at a televised debate in which he was confronted by the parents of British servicemen killed in Iraq, who demanded the immediate withdrawal of the country's 8,000 troops. ********** A senior Bush administration official says the constitutional referendum that took place in Iraq October 15 was a "great day" for democracy and the Iraqi people and "a very bad day for the terrorists who tried to disrupt the voting." James Jeffrey, senior adviser to the secretary of state and coordinator for Iraq, said approximately 1 million more voters cast ballots in the referendum than in the elections for a transitional Iraqi government January 30. The official said the referendum will contribute to an Iraq that is "unified, democratic, pluralistic, and federal," as called for by the United Nations Security Council. He said the four adjectives must be lumped together and cannot be separated with regard to Iraq. He added: we want the countries in the region to play a key role in supporting the democratic political process in putting pressure on those countries -- Iran and Syria -- that are not being helpful in terms of controlling borders and political processes. And in the case of those countries that have made pledges at Madrid to work with the Iraqis to carry out those pledges. **********