Ain-Al-Yaqeen - November 25, 2005

		November 25, 2005

GCC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN THE UAE IN PREPARATIONS FOR THE GCC SUMMIT.
JORDAN UNVEILS THE IDENTITIES OF THE TERRORISTS AND THE WIFE OF ONE OF THE ATTACKERS TALKS ABOUT HER FAILURE TO ACCOMPLISH HER TARGET.
THE IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER ANNOUNCES THAT 60,000 OR SO MULTINATIONAL TROOPS WILL BE OUT OF IRAQ BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR.
THE BRITISH SECRETARY OF DEFENCE: BRITISH TROOPS COULD BEGIN HANDING OVER SECURITY DUTIES TO IRAQI FORCES WITHIN A YEAR.

The 97th session of the Gulf Cooperation Council's Ministerial Council started in Abu Dhabi in preparations for the GCC summit, scheduled to be held on 18 December in Abu Dhabi.

The session was opened with a speech by Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Foreign Minister, in which he welcomed his GCC counterparts and urged more efforts to bolster cooperation among GCC countries.

"Since its establishment, the GCC has made considerable achievements. However, peoples of the GCC countries aspire for more achievements which requires further efforts to realise them," Al Nuaimi said.

He said the meeting translates the great interest of the GCC governments and peoples in the joint action of the GCC countries.

"Current developments and rapid changes require all to join forces and to deal carefully with such developments, especially those taking place in our region like continuation of Iranian occupation of the UAE three islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, as well as developments in Iraq and Palestine and the terrorist acts of killing innocent people."

Al Nuaimi referred to the meeting's agenda, which includes economic, social, environmental and political issues.

He welcomed Shaikh Khalid Ibn Ahmed Ibn Mohammed Al Khalifa, Bahraini foreign minister, into the council's meetings and congratulated him on his appointment.

The ministers then held a closed-door session to draft the GCC summit's agenda before submitting it to the GCC leaders during their summit.

The foreign ministers of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries held the meeting in Abu Dhabi within the framework of the preparations for the upcoming GCC summit that is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi on 18 December.

GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah said that the ministers studied the reports prepared by the various ministerial cooperation committees that cover broad fields of joint Gulf action and also reviewed a preparatory report by the secretary general on what the GCC did since the end of its last session in Manama and the new one in Abu Dhabi. He will present a final report on this to the upcoming summit.

Al-Attiyah said the economic issues occupy an important part of the upcoming Abu Dhabi summit and pointed out in particular to the issue of completing the requirements and mechanisms for the common Gulf market and the timetable for the monetary union between the GCC countries which is scheduled to be implemented in 2010. He also pointed out that the summit would look into a number of integration projects, such as the water grid, building a railroad network, and other projects.

Regarding the political issues that the summit will discuss, he said that the ministerial council reviewed the various current issues so as to formulate the GCC countries' stand on them within the framework of the political constants and principles that govern its action. He noted that the Palestinian issue continues to preoccupy the GCC countries and stressed that they take a unified stand that backs the Palestinian people's legitimate rights within the framework of the international resolutions and the obligations and pledges with the Palestinian side. The GCC secretary general criticized the Israeli policy and said it does not indicate any credibility in dealing with the peace process but is pressing ahead with its plans to evade and prevaricate every time the peaceful process nears a turning point that brings the region closer to peace and stability.

Regarding the GCC countries' stand on the international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri and the situation that Syria is facing in this issue, Al-Attiyah said the GCC countries followed up this issue from the beginning and stressed that they are concerned about Syria's stability as much as they are concerned about Lebanon's security and stability. He added that the GCC is eager to maintain the historic brotherly relations between Syria and Lebanon as these relations are bound to deal with all the crises that they face. He added that while the GCC countries underline their respect for international legitimacy and the need to cooperate fully with the international judicial investigations, they also appreciate and encourage what Syria has demonstrated for the sake of reaching the truth in the assassination of late Prime Minister Al-Hariri.

The GCC is made up of Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister arrived in Abu Dhabi to participate in the 97th session of the Ministerial Council to prepare for the 26th Summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) due to be held in Abu Dhabi.

Upon arrival, Prince Saud was received by Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rashid Abdullah Al-Naimi; the GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Ibn Hamad Al-Atiyyah; Saudi Ambassador to the UAE Dr. Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Muammar and a number of officials.

On the other hand Jordanian security officials announced the arrest of an Iraqi woman they said was closely linked to the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a fourth bomber in the Amman hotel attacks. They also broadcast a taped confession showing her wearing a translucent explosive belt packed with ball bearings, in which she described how she had tried unsuccessfully to blow herself up.

Looking tired and nervous in a head scarf and long black coat partly concealing the bomb belt, the woman, who identified herself as Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, 35, was shown recounting the moments when she and her Iraqi husband, whom she described as another member of the suicide squad and who killed himself in the bombing, entered a ballroom in the Radisson Hotel.

"He took one end and I took another," she said. "The hotel had a wedding in it and there were women and children. My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate but it failed. People began to run, and I ran out with them."

Fifty-seven people died at the Radisson, Days Inn and Grand Hyatt hotels in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Jordan.

Marwan Muashar, Jordan's deputy prime minister, said al-Rishawi is the sister of Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, a senior aide to Al-Zarqawi who was killed last year by American forces in the restive Iraqi city of Falluja.

Her confession included some details of how the plot was organized and was seen as likely to yield significant intelligence into the methods and plans of Al-Zarqawi's group, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which took responsibility for the Amman blasts.

The case has raised the possibility that Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian fugitive who has become the most wanted terrorist leader in Iraq, is adjusting his tactics in Jordan, where he has tried - and failed, according to Jordan security officials - to orchestrate more than 150 attacks against government targets in the past few years.

Now, these officials say, he appears out of frustration to be shifting to more vulnerable civilian targets here like hotels, where security has been less stringent.

While the videotaped confession of Al- Rishawi appeared to represent a breakthrough and was greeted enthusiastically by many Jordanians, much about the confession remained undisclosed.

Jordanian officials would not say when or where she was arrested, when the tape was made, and whether she was told to wear the bomb belt by her interrogators.

It is unclear how much of the tape, which runs less than five minutes, was edited. It is also unclear to what extent, or indeed whether, Al- Rishawi had been coerced into making the confession.

Jordanian officials would not say where they had detained Al- Rishawi or explain the precise charges against her.

News of the arrest and broadcast, which were clearly aimed at showing progress in the investigation, also appeared to reflect the Jordanian government's efforts to reinforce its image of security following the bombings. Up until now, Jordan had been considered one of the Middle East's most stable and safe countries.

King Abdullah II, speaking to CNN, stressed that he believed the ultimate targets of the bombers were Jordanians, even though the three hotel chains are Western and some of the victims were foreigners.

"Those that know Jordan, the hotels, especially the Days Inn, is a favorite place for Jordanians and Iraqis," King Abdullah said. "These suicide bombers actually went and aimed at Jordanian targets. The Radisson Hotel was a Jordanian wedding with Jordanians and Palestinians, where innocent people were killed. So this was nothing to do with the West. This targeted Jordanian citizens, innocent men, women and children."

The other two bombers, also Iraqis, were identified as Rawad Jassem Muhammad Abed, 23, and Safaa Muhammad Ali, 23. The three men set off their belts almost simultaneously at the Radisson Hotel, the Grand Hyatt Hotel and the Days Inn on Wednesday night.

On the confession tape, Al Rishawi said she and her husband, Ali Hussein al-Shumari, 35, left Ramadi, Iraq, for Jordan on Nov. 5 with explosives belts specifically to bomb hotels in Amman. They rented an apartment in an Amman neighbourhood earlier in the week, rented a car and set out for the Radisson.

An official with Jordan's intelligence services, who spoke on condition that he not be identified by name because he was not authorized to do so, said that Al- Rishawi had been spotted on a hotel security camera and police had been searching for her for several days.

The presence of a female bomber was announced in an Internet posting claiming responsibility for the attacks by Al-Zarqawi's group, but the posting said that she had died in the bombings.

Security men reconstructed the bodies of the suicide bombers and said they had made positive identifications using DNA analysis.

The arrest of Al-Rishawi brought a sense of relief on Amman streets, as demonstrations against the attacks continued for the fourth day. Security officials said that they were still on the lookout for 10 rental cars and several cars with Iraqi plates believed to be tied to the attacks.

Jordanian security officials said that they had found no evidence that the bombers had been assisted by Jordanians. The officials also said they had found no evidence of contact between the bombers and Al- Zarqawi after they had crossed into Jordan.

In a press conference in Amman, Jordan's deputy prime minister Marwan AL-Muaasher said that investigations revealed that the four Iraqi entered Amman via al-Karamah crossing on the Iraqi- Jordanian borders on the fifth of November, and then they rented an apartment in Talla Ali area in the capital Amman for one month.

Muaasher explained that intelligence investigations revealed that the four left the apartment on November 9 and did not return to it. They rented a car and went to Radisson Sass hotel and Sajedah was wearing cloths showing that she is going to a party. This showed their determination to kill as much as possible of men."

The Jordanian minister added that Sajedah entered the wedding party hall and tried to detonate herself but the bomb did not go off, and then her husband asked to leave the hall and he detonated himself.

Muaasher said that the Jordanian security forces could arrest Sajedah who entered Jordan using a false Iraqi passport and that she confessed to the plan which was carried out.

The Jordanian minister indicated that Sajedah is the sister of Tamer al-Reishawi, the leader of al-Qaida organization in al-Anbar, who was considered the right hand for the leader of al-Qaida organization in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, noting that al-Reishawi was killed in Iraq, earlier.

Muaasher said that the executors of the attacks aimed to kill as many people as possible, noting that investigations showed that no Jordanians were involved in these explosions. But he stressed that the authorities are still investigating Jordanians who affiliate to al-Qaida organization in Iraq to know if they have links to these explosions.

On the other hand Iraq's defense minister Sadoun al-Duleimi criticized Syria and said during his recent visit to Jordan that the Syrian- Iraqi borders are almost the only area of infiltration.

He said in a press conference in conclusion of talks he had held with the Jordanian prime minister Adnan Badran that Iraq has a joint border of 620 km with the Syrian brothers. And I do say we have 620 problems with them.

He warned that the "Iraqi volcano will expand into the neighbors and no capital borders Iraq will be saved from it if it blows off."

He talked about the existence of 450 detainees in the Iraqi jails who "came from various Arab and Islamic states in order to be trained in Syria and then enter into Iraq in their booby trapped car carrying with them destruction, death and killing."

SANA reported that an official source condemned Iraqi Defense Minister's statements.

"Talk on booby-trapped cars entering Iraq through the Syrian border is baseless and comes as a part of an arranged political campaign against Syria and this doesn't serve Iraq's interests."

"Syria, which is connected to the sisterly Iraqi people by Arab fraternal ties and joint history, feels pain over the standing tragic situation in Iraq and finding herself a subject to fabricated lies aimed at harming the ties between the two sisterly peoples and countries," the source added.

The source repeated "Syria's desire to cooperate with Iraq to control borders between the two states, a matter that didn't meet the Iraqi hoped response until now, while campaigns of lies against Syria increase."

In Cairo, Egypt's State Information Agency said that "Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwafaq Rubaiee said that President Hosni Mubarak reiterated during their meeting today his keenness on supporting Iraq and protecting its stability and unity."

The report said: The President highlighted the importance of cooperating with the Iraqi government in the various political and media fields and asserted Egypt's readiness to train the Iraqi security and police forces. Rubaiee said.

He said that he carried to Mubarak an invitation from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to visit Iraq noting that such a visit would be historic for two reasons, first because of Egypt's weight in the Arab region and second because it would encourage Arab presence in Iraq.

...Talks also covered border infiltrations of suicide bombers into Iraq from Syria. Rubaiee said that while Iraq did not want to stir up trouble with any of its neighbours, it would no longer stand hand-folded seeing suicide bombers cross into its borders from neighboring Syria.

He said that he asked President Mubarak to intervene with Damascus to have Syria tighten security on its borders.

The report said "Iraqi National Security Adviser Rubaiee said that Iraq wished to benefit from Egyptian expertise in fighting religious fanaticism and terror."

The report said: he informed President Mubarak of the Iraqi government's plans to sign an agreement with foreign troops in the country to create an atmosphere convenient to transfer security responsibilities from the Multinational Forces to Iraqi security forces. According to Rubaiee, under the agreement foreign troops are to withdraw from 12 of the 18 Iraqi governorates, thus reducing foreign military presence in Iraq.

He said that the agreement could only materialize after the building of the Iraqi forces and security and intelligence agencies.

Rubaiee predicts that by mid next year more than 30,000 foreign troops will be withdrawn from Iraq.

Hopes are that 60,000 or so multinational troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year, bringing down to less than 100,000 the number of foreign troops deployed in the country by the beginning of 2007.

The Iraqi National Security Adviser said he discussed Iraq's future security, reconstruction and economic plans at his meeting with President Mubarak.

"We discussed Iraq's political process and the country's determination to build a democratic state, where power could be handed down from one person to another peacefully," he said.

He said that Iraq's return to the Arab and Islamic nation through Egypt's gate was in the interest of his country and of the Arab and Muslim nations, since this would help restore the balance between the Arab and foreign presence in the country and end regional threats to Iraq's national security.

Asked about continued foreign presence in Iraq and whether Iraq was on the brink of a civil war, he said that the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq depended largely on Iraq's security conditions and the ability of the Iraqi security forces to assume its responsibilities.

He asserted that so far there was no specific timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.

The Iraqi National Security Adviser downplayed reports that a civil war was looming in Iraq. "There are no grounds for the outbreak of a civil war in our country," he said of al-Qaeda's number one man in Iraq Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi and of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of attempting to ignite a civil war in the country. But so far all their attempts have been futile, he said.

The idea of having Arab and Islamic forces replace foreign troops withdrawing from Iraq was not up for discussion. Asked about Iraq's relations with Iran, he repeated his government's desire not to antagonize any of its neighbouring countries. He also asserted that the Iraqis categorically reject any Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs. There is no evidence implicating Iran in supporting or exporting terrorism to Iraq, according to Rubaiee.

In London Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said that Iraqi forces will be ready to replace British troops in one year, adding his voice to growing predictions that US-led coalition forces could soon begin a major pullout.

Talabani's comments came as the Iraqi national security adviser said that 30 000 of the foreign troops currently stationed in Iraq would withdraw by mid-2006, although US forces in Baghdad made clear no decisions had been made.

"We don't want British forces forever in Iraq. Within one year - I think at the end of 2006 - Iraqi troops will be ready to replace British forces in the south," Talabani told Britain's ITV1 television.

Defence Secretary John Reid evinced no disagreement with Talabani's stance, saying that British troops could begin handing over security duties to Iraqi forces within a year.

Asked whether he was making a commitment, Talabani replied: "Well, I haven't been in negotiations, but in my opinion and according to my study of the situation I can say that it is the just estimation of the situation."

Some 8 000 British troops based in the southern city of Basra have been in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.

US forces in Iraq currently number just over 150 000 and other coalition forces just under 22 000.

Speaking in Cairo, Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq Rubaie said more than 30000 of the foreign troops currently in Iraq will withdraw by mid-2006.

But it was not clear on what he was basing his predictions and a US spokesperson for coalition forces in Baghdad emphasised that no decisions had been made on any troop pullbacks.

Despite his predictions of a British drawback, Talabani also warned that an immediate pullout would be a "catastrophe" that would affect the rest of the Middle East.

"It would lead to a kind of civil war and ... we will lose what we have done for liberating Iraq from the worst kind of dictatorship," he added.

General Sir Mike Jackson, Britain's chief of general staff, reacting on BBC television to Talabani's remarks, said "we most certainly could leave" within one year, but "it's a question of achieving the right conditions".

Talabani called for a gradual pullout, with close co-ordination between coalition nations and the Iraqi authorities.

He acknowledged that insurgents could step up violence in the run-up to elections for the National Assembly slated for December 15, but doubted they would affect the result.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said political progress and improving home-grown security forces in Iraq might allow the US to cut its military presence in 2006.

It is worth mentioning that while participating in the 2-day meetings of the forum, hosted by Bahrain Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister held meetings with the Danish Foreign Minister, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Pakistan, the Omani Foreign Minister and the Iraqi Foreign Minister.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal also held a meeting with the Iraqi Foreign Minister and another meeting was held between the Saudi Foreign minister and the foreign ministers of Kuwait and the UAE. They were then joined by Farouk Al-Shara the Syrian Foreign Minister, Amre Moussa Secretary General of the Arab League and the Foreign Minister of the State of Bahrain.

Iraq's Foreign Minister said he reviewed with Prince Saud the Arab initiative to hold a preparatory meeting for the Iraqi national agreement in Cairo. The Minister added that he discusses with Prince Saud Al-Faisal the Kingdom's diplomatic representation in Iraq.