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January 6, 2006 |
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THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES - THE GCC AND ARAB POLITICAL PERSONALITY OF 2005. PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL'S DIPLOMACY AND THE ENHANCEMENT OF SAUDI-AMERICAN RELATIONS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques welcomed, in the name of the Kingdom's government and people, the pilgrims who come to the holy sites to perform Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques emphasized the importance of providing all services the pilgrims need, and called for doubling efforts and executing duties for serving them, since this will bestow a great honor upon the Kingdom and its people. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani said that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the contents of the talks which he had held with Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas. The talks dealt with the latest developments in the region topped by the Palestinian cause. Then the Cabinet reviewed reports on the developments of situations in the region. In this regard the Cabinet expressed its condolences to the Republic of Yemen on the death of its citizens as a result of a rock slide in Al-Dhufairah village. The Cabinet lauded the decisions issued by the extraordinary session of the Arab League's Council held in Cairo. It also welcomed the agreement of Arab foreign ministers on the special criteria with regard to objective political or organizational structural matters. Voting on these matters should be by agreement of opinions, or by two-thirds majority of the votes of the countries participating in the voting. The Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's commitment to supporting and developing actions in the Arab League emanating from the Document of Covenant, Accord and Solidarity among Arab leaders. The Document was submitted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and endorsed by the ordinary Arab Summit held in Tunisia in 2004. The Cabinet commended the Arab League's Council which laid stress on the strategic importance of the brotherly Syrian-Lebanese relations. The Cabinet affirmed the Kingdom's firm stand on the prosperity and stability of the two brotherly countries. On domestic affairs, the Minister of Culture and Information said that the Cabinet emphasized the Kingdom's determination and firm stance on eradicating the scourge of terrorism and its cliques wherever they are. The Cabinet offered its condolences to the families of the martyrs of duty killed in Qassim Region. The Cabinet stressed that the Kingdom has been proceeding on the track of eradicating the deviating group and everyone collaborating with its individuals or harboring them. It also praised security men and all military sectors for their strength, bravery and faithfulness in dealing with various events. The Minister said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions: The President of Youth Welfare or his deputy was authorized to discuss with the Indian side a draft arrangement of cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of India in the field of youth and sports and sign it within the two countries' joint committee before forwarding the final version for further authentication. The Minister of Finance or his deputy was authorized to continue discussion of a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Malaysia to avert dual taxation on personal income and to prevent tax evasion and to continue discussion of the agreement's annexed protocol and sign them before forwarding the final versions for further authentication. The Minister of Finance or his deputy was authorized to continue discussion of a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of India to avert dual taxation on personal income and to prevent tax evasion and to continue discussion of the agreement's annexed protocol and sign them before forwarding the final versions for further authentication. The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources or his deputy was authorized to sign a cooperation protocol between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Peoples Republic of China in the field of oil, gas and minerals sectors and sign it before forwarding the final version for further authentication. The Minister of Health or his deputy was authorized to discuss a draft memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Health of the Peoples Republic of China, sign it within the two countries' joint committee before forwarding the final version for further authentication. The Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr. Mohammed Ibn Hamad Ibn Humain Al-Fahd as Legal Expert at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Abdullah Ibn Salih Ibn Abdullah Al-Hammad as Consultant for Security Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, and Ibrahim Ibn Ali Ibn Mohammed Al-Saeed as Religious Researcher at the General Presidency of Religious Research and Ifta. Meanwhile a poll, carried by the Dubai-based Arabic Daily, Al Bayan, named the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, and the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri as the political personalities on the GCC and Arab levels, respectively. The local opinion poll has proclaimed President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as UAE's political personality of the year 2005, and General Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister, as the economic personality on the UAE, GCC and Arab levels. The poll, which interviewed 1,388 persons, also selected Dr. Sheikh Sultan Ibn Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah as the cultural personality on the UAE, GCC and Arab levels; UAE Minister of Culture and Information Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Zayed Al Nahyan, ranked second, followed in the third place by Mohammed Al Mur, President of Dubai Cultural Council. The second place for the cultural personality went to Saudi poet and diplomat Ghazi Al Gosaibi on the GCC level, while on the Arab level it was shared by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and the Syrian poet Adonis. In economics, the second place on the GCC and Arab levels went to Saudi Prince Al Waleed Ibn Talal Ibn Abdul Aziz. In sports, General Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Rashid Al Maktoum seized the top rank on the UAE, GCC and Arab levels. The second place went to Saudi soccer player Sami Al Jaber, and Moroccan athlete Hisham Al Karouj, on the GCC and Arab levels, respectively. The poll named Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak as the female personality on the UAE, GCC and Arab levels, the second place went to Sheikha Moza Al Mosnid, wife of the Emir of Qatar, and to Queen Rania Al Abdullah, wife of the Jordanian Monarch, on the GCC and Arab levels, respectively. The art personality title went to UAE actor Jabir Naghmoush, on the UAE level, and to Saudi singer Mohammed Abdo on the GCC and Arab levels. On the other hand "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" published an article about Prince Truki Al-Faisal with the title Saudi ambassador 'right man' for job. In its article AJC said: He's a prince --- literally --- the U.S.-- educated son of a Saudi Arabian king, the former head of that country's intelligence agency and the brother of the kingdom's foreign minister. With that heady slate of contacts and credentials, Prince Turki Al-Faisal took up his new post as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States in the summer. He replaced Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan, who had become the dean of the Washington diplomatic corps in the 22 years he spent as the kingdom's top envoy to the United States. Before leaving Riyadh for Washington, Prince Turki Al-Faisal turned for advice to the highest authority in the realm: King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz. "He said, 'A diplomat will say 'yes' when he means 'maybe,' and he will say 'maybe' when he means 'no,' but if he says 'no,' then he's no diplomat,' " Prince Turki Al-Faisal recalled in a speech last month, the newspaper said. On the question of how best to communicate with President Bush, however, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques offered his Washington envoy very different counsel. "When I was saying goodbye to him, I told him, 'Your majesty, how shall I deal with Mr. Bush?'" Prince Turki told a group of reporters in Washington. "He turned to me and he said, 'Just be frank with him.' " Prince Turki Al-Faisal came to Washington after having spent four years in London as the Saudi ambassador to Britain. "He's the right man for the job," said Wyche Fowler, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and chairman of the board of the Middle East Institute, a non-partisan research group in Washington. "He's just going to be very accessible and frank, but he will win friends in Washington, and in the country, for the Saudis," said Fowler, a former senator from Georgia. "He's outgoing without having any kind of bombastic personality." In the two decades he spent in Washington, Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan developed many friendships. American presidents relied on his insights into the Arab world and looked to him as a trusted go-between in sensitive diplomacy with U.S. partners and rivals. Prince Bandar, had become something more than an ambassador, a unique figure. Prince Turki Al-Faisal graduated in 1963 from the Lawrenceville School, a prestigious prep school off the New Jersey Turnpike halfway between New York and Philadelphia. Prince Turki told The New York Times Magazine that he spent one semester at Princeton University but "failed all my engineering courses, so I was kicked out." Next he tried Georgetown University in Washington, before winding up at Oxford in England. In public, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, son of the late King Faisal, plays down his royal roots. "Being the son of a king," he told the magazine, "is no different than being the son of a journalist or anyone else." Most Americans recognize that Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. economic and diplomatic partner. American attitudes toward the Saudis cooled, however, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the attacks came from Saudi Arabia. Mistrust has permeated Capitol Hill, where the U.S.-Saudi relationship was the subject of a daylong hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont blasted what he called the Saudi government's "lavish funding" of Islamic schools throughout the region. "They promulgate extreme forms of Islam, advocate hatred and violence," Leahy charged. Prince Turki Al-Faisal stresses "These deviants do not represent Saudis," Prince Turki said in a November speech to the Middle East Institute. "Al-Qaida is not and never has been representative of Islam." Ambassador to the United States Prince Turki Al-Faisal issued the following statement in response to remarks and testimony at the November 8 hearing of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: After reviewing the testimony and remarks made at the November 8 hearing by members of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and respective witnesses, there are a number of important facts that have been overlooked which should be recognized, especially considering the close partnership Saudi Arabia and the United States have in the war on terrorism. As the world has witnessed, Saudi Arabia, like the United States, is a main target of Al-Qaeda. Over the past three years, Al-Qaeda has attacked the Kingdom repeatedly. These terrorists oppose the Saudi government and people because we are trying to move our country forward, to modernize, and become part of the world economy. Al-Qaeda is a cult that has declared war on our country and society. In response, Saudi Arabia and its people have galvanized in an intensive effort to confront the terrorists, those who fund them, and those who condone their actions. During the past three years, Saudi security forces have killed more than 100 terrorists. The Ministry of Interior issued its latest list of the 36 most-wanted on June 28, 2005, and as of September 30, ten of the terrorists have been arrested or killed. Of the 26 terrorists on the previous most-wanted list issued on December 6, 2003, 24 have been killed or captured. Saudi security forces have succeeded in preventing more than 50 terror attacks, and more than 800 suspects have been arrested. During these operations, thousands of pounds of explosives, large quantities of weapons and ammunition, as well as cash and incriminating documents have been seized. These accomplishments, however, have come at a cost: More than 90 Saudi security officers have been killed and over 200 have been wounded in the line of duty. Our country will be forever grateful for the sacrifices they have made to enhance the safety of our nation. Despite these relatively recent actions, it is important to recognize that Saudi Arabia has been combating Al-Qaeda for more than a decade. As the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States confirms, the Kingdom made repeated attempts to capture Osama bin Laden prior to September 11, 2001. Saudi Arabia has also repeatedly worked to foil Al-Qaeda terror attacks inside the Kingdom. Moreover, we have been pursuing bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network since he fled the Kingdom in 1994, after the Saudi government revoked his citizenship. The Saudi government works closely with other nations, including the US, to increase counterterrorism efforts. We have been working side by side as full partners with US law enforcement specialists and others from around the world. This cooperation has extended beyond simply combating terrorists. The Kingdom is working with the Departments of State, Treasury and Homeland Security to exchange information and expertise in order to stem the flow of money to terrorists and terrorist organizations. For our part, the Saudi government has taken steps to tighten control of our banking system to ensure that the generosity of our citizens cannot be abused. Saudi Arabia has put in place world-class regulations and financial control mechanisms, and implemented the 40 recommendations on money laundering and eight recommendations on terror financing of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). A report by the FATF, an international body initiated by members of the G-8 countries, concluded that Saudi Arabia now has in place world-class laws and regulations to combat terror financing. According to one official involved in the assessment, the new regulations Saudi Arabia has put in place for Saudi-based charities "probably go further than any country in the world." The Kingdom has even gone so far as to remove donation boxes from mosques and public places. The Kingdom has frozen suspected bank accounts and implemented a major technical program to train judges and investigators on legal matters involving terror financing. Taking the immediate and obvious steps of going after the men and the money behind terrorism is simply not enough, which is why the Kingdom has enacted programs to go after the mindset that foments extremism and advocates violence. The Kingdom is currently in the middle of a multi-year program to update textbooks and curriculums, introduce new teaching methods and provide better training for our teachers. Efforts such as these are important not only for combating extremism, but also for preparing our citizens for the demands of tomorrow as the children of today enter the global community. These reforms extend to our religious schools as well. Imams are prohibited from incitement and talk of intolerance in our mosques. Those that violate these prohibitions are disciplined, and Saudi Arabia has disciplined or suspended more than 2,000 imams for preaching incitement. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is further implementing a three-year program to educate imams and monitor mosques and religious education to purge extremism and intolerance. Outside of our schools and mosques, the Saudi government is using different forms of communication to send a clear and powerful message to our people, and we are taking serious actions to undermine the strength of those who try to misguide our youth. Last February, the Kingdom initiated a public awareness campaign to reinforce the true values of our Islamic faith and to educate our citizens about the dangers of extremism and terrorism. The campaign, conducted over several months, featured advertisements on television, radio and billboards, as well as programs on television, in schools and mosques, and at sporting events. One of the centerpieces of the campaign was a series of public service announcements that aired up to 25 times a day on a number of Arabic satellite networks, including Al-Arabiya, MBC and Future Television, as well as on Saudi TV channels. The size and scope of the campaign was unprecedented, with six government ministries coordinating the development and execution of the programs. The Ministry of Education, for example, sponsored lectures at public schools that promoted moderation and peace, and pointed out the dangers of extremism. No Saudi citizen has been able to escape the message that intolerance, violence and extremism are not a part of our Islamic faith or Saudi culture or traditions. Our efforts to express this message and enforce it go beyond the borders of the Kingdom, and the Saudi government has taken concrete steps to promote moderation and to make it absolutely clear that there is no place for extremism or terrorism, not only in our nation, but anywhere in the world. At the initiative of King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Islamic thinkers and scholars met in Makkah during the month of September to discuss issues affecting the Islamic world, such as extremism, dealing with others, the issuing of fatwas, and other matters of importance. The discussions led to the issuing of recommendations which will be taken up by the Heads of State of the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) during their extraordinary summit meeting in Makkah in December. The objective is to articulate the voices of reason in the Muslim world, and drown out the voices of extremism. Judging by the statements made at the hearing, it appears that the members of the Committee are not fully aware of the significant steps Saudi Arabia has taken in the war on terrorism and extremism, or that they chose to ignore the realities for the sake of political expediency. To confront the threat of terrorism, the international community must continue to work cooperatively. President Bush, Secretary Rice and others have repeatedly commended Saudi Arabia for its efforts and we have done, and will continue to do, our part. But events like the hearing today do not contribute to a spirit of cooperation and only serve to reinforce negative misconceptions and half-truths. This sends a discouraging message to both the Saudi and American people at a time when we should be trying to promote greater understanding. Prince Turki Al-Faisal met with several reporters at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington. Here are excerpts from the interview. Iraq "The only way you can have a stable and a unified Iraq is if the Iraqis decide things for themselves . . . [through] a government in Iraq that will be acceptable to all of the population as being a legitimate government, and a government that represents all of the people of Iraq. . . . When the Iraqis feel that they have a legitimate government, acting on their behalf, they will turn to that government to deal with issues like terrorism and providing services for the people and dealing with the social problems that Iraq has." Syria "We have been talking extensively with the American administration on this issue, and we have not heard once the words 'regime change' from them. . . . If they're talking about it then they're keeping it to themselves. We think that the area is full of problems" [such as the violence in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict]. "You heal these two bleeding wounds in the area and you can go on to other things, whether it is social betterment or economic improvement, political reform, whatever. . . . We want stability, we don't want problems." Osama bin Laden "I think he's in the area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He probably moves across the border from each to the other when he feels he needs to. For the last year or so, we've been developing an opinion in the kingdom that perhaps bin Laden is, in some way or another, not as paramount as he used to be within the al-Qaida." Al-Qaida "The al-Qaida leadership is still quite capable of issuing orders and having those orders followed. We've seen that in the kingdom, we've seen it in what happened in London [the July bombings]. Al-Qaida is alive and well, in a different way than it was four years ago. . . ." Iran "We have expressed to them the concerns that we have of Iranian influence in parts of Iraq. . . . The facts on the ground show that there is undue influence on the part of our Iranian brethren in Iraq, and we hear this from our Iraqi brothers themselves. We talk with our Iranian friends all the time. . . . Introducing nuclear weapons in the Middle East on the non-Israeli side is not going to be helpful. It is not going to diminish the danger of the presence of nuclear weapons from Israel. . . . On the contrary, it might heighten the weapons of mass destruction race in the area." Saudi Arabia's militants "Talking to them and engaging them in conversation is much more effective in getting results than the alternative, which would be to use harsher methods. We've found that addressing the ideological base from which they come and providing counterarguments to that ideological base has succeeded in turning many of them away from the beliefs that they held before they were arrested. And, once they do that, they become more talkative about giving information on other terrorists and other organizations." |
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