CONTACT Any questions or suggestions? Feel free to email me at: Sonjapearl@royaltyinthenews.com - and my real name is Megan :)
|
The leaders of six Gulf nations gathered in Riyadh for the 12th annual Gulf Cooperation Council. Royals from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates came to Dirriyah Palace to discuss among Iran, Iraq, Yemen and the Mideast peace process.
 Xinhua/Saudi Photo Agency All those in attendance agreed to back the U.S.-backed Mideast peace process, which broke down last year. They also called for a revival of the peace talks and for Israel to stop settlements in Palestinian territories.
In addition, the Gulf leaders sided with Kuwait in an alleged Iranian spy group discovered in that country. The secretary-general of the GCC, Abdulrahman al-Attiyah, said “The security of the Gulf region is a red line. The security of the Gulf cannot be divided.”
“But our Kuwaiti friends want to handle it themselves for the moment,” he added.
As for Iraq, the GCC members called for all neighboring countries and the international community to help the troubled nation to get back on its feet.
The GCC was hosted by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Crown Prince Sultan and Prince Naif were present. The monarchs of Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait were there, while the UAE was represented by its Vice President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai. Oman was the other country at the summit, but its deputy prime minister was there instead of its Sultan.
Sources: Arab News, Saudi Gazette, AFP
“The political trust is gone….Economically, we were better off in trade and in movement before my father signed the peace treaty.”
 AFP/FILE/Joseph Eid So said Jordan’s King Abdullah II in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published online Monday. In the article, he laments over the relations between his country and Israel, which he claims are as low as they were when his father, King Hussein, signed the treaty in 1994.
These days, the Mideast Peace Process seems to be at a standstill, and King Abdullah is not keeping it secret that he is frustrated.
“I met Benjamin Netanyahu…this time last year. I was extremely optimistic by the vision he had for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Arabs.”
“However, I have to say, that over the past 12 months, everything I’ve seen on the ground has made me extremely skeptical,” the King said. “And, I believe I’m one of the more optimistic people you’ll find in this part of the world.”
The monarch also told the Journal that when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama this weekend, he will push him to impose on Israel the terms and timeline for new peace talks with the Palestinians. The King also voiced concern that without a new round of talks, there could be violence in the near future.
“Over the Israeli-Lebanese border; if you spoke (to some Lebanese) today they feel there is going to be a war any second. (It) looks like there is an attempt by certain groups to promote a third intifada, which would be disastrous. Jerusalem as you are well aware is a tinderbox that could go off at any time, and then there is the overriding concern about military action between Israel and Iran,” King Abdullah said.
“So with all these things in the background, the status quo is not acceptable; what will happen is that we will continue to go around in circles until the conflict erupts, and there will be suffering by peoples because there will be a war.”
The King pointed out the next two months will determine the future of Middle East.
Sources: WSJ.com, AFP
 JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images This weekend, the King of Jordan was at the 22nd Arab Summit held in Sitre, Libya. It was there that King Abdullah II spoke of his commitment to the Mideast peace process, and reiterated his call for a Palestinian state.
“Israel must know that it will never have security unless the Palestinians also have their right to security, freedom and a state… and it must choose between remaining an isolated fortress or living in peace with its neighbors,” the King said in a speech.
Abdullah also said Israel was “playing with fire” by building settlements in East Jerusalem, which is where many Palestinians live. He urged the world to put pressure on Israel to stop the constructions.
But he also mentioned how the Arab world needs to stand together for the sake of the peace process and other plans.
“It is in this context that we support every effort that seeks to clear the Arab atmosphere, achieve Arab solidarity and overcome all differences that lead to external interference in our affairs… not for the sake of championing our just causes but to achieve ambitions of hegemony and influence,” King Abdullah said.
The King also discussed Iraq, and how fellow Arabs need to help the country secure itself.
“I must stress here that what we have done for Iraq is below our expectations… for Iraq needs more than moral support… Iraq needs effective assistance on the ground,” the King said.
Sources: The Jordan Times, AFP
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Wednesday, his final stop on his trip to the Middle East, the first ever by a Brazilian head of state. Lula arrived in Amman with his wife, First Lady Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva, and was greeted by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.
 REUTERS/Ali Jarekji After an official welcoming ceremony and an inspection of the troops, the foursome went inside for talks.
The King and the President concentrated mainly on the stalling Mideast peace process, which Lula hopes he could bring a different viewpoint to the table. Before his departure, he said in an interview that the Middle East needs “someone with neutrality to speak the truth to the Israelis, to tell the truth to Palestinians, Iranians, Syrians, and whoever wants to hear the truth.”
According to a palace statement, Abdullah and Lula’s discussion “reviewed regional developments and ways to overcome the hurdles preventing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks based on a two-state solution from advancing.”
Later, their two delegations joined in for talks to “examine ways of developing bilateral economic relations, particularly in the energy and technology fields,” it added.
The President will be in Jordan until tomorrow. He will visit the ancient city of Petra before returning to Brazil.
Before coming to Jordan, President Lula visited Israel and the Palestinian territories.
U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met with the King of Saudi Arabia Monday, after spending the weekend in the Persian Gulf. The two held talks and had a luxurious lunch together at the King’s desert retreat outside of Riyadh.
 REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout Upon arriving in the desert Kingdom, Clinton was welcomed by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who took her to the camp 35 miles northeast of the Saudi capital. On the way over, the Prince joked with the Secretary about the country’s capital. This might have helped ease Clinton’s meeting with King Abdullah.
“I want you to know, Your Majesty, that His Highness thinks camels are ugly,” Mrs. Clinton said, according to the New York Times.
“I think His Highness was not being fair to camels,” the King reportedly replied.
After sitting for some talks and allowing photographers to snap away from them, King Abdullah escorted the former First Lady to her lunch inside the air-conditioned tent, which is about the size of a circus tent. The meal included lamb, rice, hummus and other foods. The King played a wide-screen TV of a soccer game to perhaps entertain the guests. But some suspected it was to keep them from overhearing his conversation with Clinton.
One of the topics the two likely discussed was Iran and its controversial nuclear program. Clinton was hoping Saudi Arabia would use its influence with China to secure sanctions against Iran because of the program.
But what was probably on the mind of King Abdullah was the Mideast peace process, which has been stalling.
“The peace process is the main issue, of course,” said Saudi foreign ministry spokesman Osama Nugali. “Our position is still the same… that we need to revive the peace process.”
“I’m hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations,” Clinton said while in Qatar.
The King of Spain arrived in Lebanon today for his first ever visit to the Middle Eastern country. He was greeted by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman once he stepped off the plane in Beirut. King Juan Carlos would be in Lebanon for two days.
 REUTERS/Dalati Nohra/Handout This visit comes days after Spain took over as head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon along the Israeli border. Spain has over one thousand UNIFIL troops in the area. The King will inspect those soldiers in the southern part of the country tomorrow.
Suleiman praised relations between his country and the King’s at a state dinner at Baada Palace. The President made a state visit to Spain last year.
President Suleiman also asked Juan Carlos to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 as he slammed Israel for slowing any progress on the Mideast peace process. Spain currently holds the presidency of the European Union, which rotates every six months.
The King of Jordan attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Friday. He spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said Jordan will not take over the West Bank.
 AP Photo/Michel Euler “Jordan does not want any part of the West Bank,” King Abdullah II said. “The only credible solution, is the two state solution. There is no Jordanian solution.”
According to the King, if rule over the territory was transferred to his country, it would instead “replace Israeli military rule with Jordanian military rule…and the Palestinians want their own state.”
Sitting in the audience was Abdullah’s wife, Queen Rania, who proudly tweeted about the King’s comments about protecting Jordanians.
“If someone threatens my people I have the right to defend them,” Rania quoted her husband on Twitter.
On Thursday, Abdullah met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres after reports suggested relations between the two have become strained. During the cordial meeting, the King expressed concern over the Mideast peace process which seems to have stalled.
Meanwhile, Queen Rania is doing more than just tweeting in Davos. She held a press conference on Friday with Milan mayor Letizia Moratti to launch a women’s advisory board for the 2015 World’s Fair and its theme, “Feed the Planet, Energy for Life.”
 REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann “Who’s at greatest risk when food crises arise, when disaster strikes, when water and fuel are in short supply: women and their children,” Rania said.
“And we see this all too clearly in Haiti today where women are rising from the ashes of the earthquake to create shelters from the rubble, to cook stews on the pavements and to comfort the suffering even as they count their own losses.”
“That’s why I’m keen to get working with this group so we can really reach out to women, especially in my region, the Middle East, where cultural traditions still hold women back from realizing their full potential,” Queen Rania said. “And I really want to see them as being equal partners and progress.”
 REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer Jordan’s King Abdullah II decreed parliamentary elections to be delayed until March 2010. This is so politicians can amend the country’s detested election law and ensure fair elections by the time elections come around.
The King issued this decree while on a working visit to Paris on Tuesday. He met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss ways to bolster economic ties between France and Jordan, as well as go over the Middle East peace conflict.
Sarkozy and Abdullah are aiming to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. The King wants Europe and France to support the talks. He has accused Israel of breaching international law and of driving out Christians and Muslims.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Saudi Arabia today for a working visit to the country. He met King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at the King Khalid International Airport, and was taken to the King’s farm in Janadriya, outside of Riyadh, where Sarkozy will spend the night.
 REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Pool The President’s main purpose on this visit is to urge Mideast peace talks to continue.
“It is urgent because the current deadlock plays into the hands of extremists and each day the chance of peace is slipping away a little,” Sarkozy told a Saudi newspaper.
At the same time, the King and the President probably also discussed France selling helicopters, naval frigates and high-speed trains to a country looking to increase its development. Civilian nuclear agreements was also on the list.
What might also have been discussed was the possibility of a peace conference in Paris. It is rumored President Sarkozy wants to bring together leaders from the Mideast, Russia, United States, plus the UN and the EU to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sarkozy will be leaving Saudi Arabia tomorrow. He will head to Qatar before going back to France.
On Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Casablanca for a global forum on the Mideast peace process. He was welcomed by Moroccan King Mohammed VI.
The two leaders discussed a number of issues, but most importantly, the Palestinian territories.
Abbas is in Morocco for the Al Quds International Forum, which King Mohammed is the patron of.
 Maghreb Arab Presse
|
|
Recent Comments