APS Diplomat News Service articles from November 2007

APS Diplomat News Service archives from November 2007

Saudi Arabia's Economic Boom & Challenges Of Local/Regional Geo-Politics.
November 5, 2007... *** Neo-Salafi Insurgents Have Tried To Hit The US Embassy In Baku; But Iran, Too, Is Said To Have A Militant Group Active In Azerbaijan - A Neighbour Which Has Lately Been The Focus For American Planners *** Bahrain Rejects Multi-Sector...

The GCC Uranium Enrichment Proposal To Iran.
November 5, 2007... Prince Saud on Nov. 1 said: "We have proposed [to Iran] a solution, which is to create a consortium for all users of enriched uranium in the Middle East. The consortium will distribute according to needs, give each plant its own necessary...

French-Saudi Views On Regional Issues.(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Visiting the kingdom, French Defence Minister Herve Morin on Oct. 28 said Paris and Riyadh were in complete agreement over the concerns represented by Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. Addressing a news conference at King Abdul-Aziz Int'l...

Bahrain Rejects Iran Proposal.(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Bahrain has rejected a Tehran offer to send experts in various fields to help boost productivity and economic performance. Tehran proposed sending specialists in health, oil, gas, petrochemicals, electricity and human resources development. The...

Hariri Points To Syrian Murder Plot.
November 5, 2007... Sa'd Hariri, the leader of Lebanon's anti-Syria "March 14 Forces", on Oct. 30 said he had information about a Syrian plot to kill him and PM Fou'ad Siniora. Sa'd, son of slain former PM Rafiq Hariri, said in Cairo after talks with Egyptian...

UN Move On Iran.
November 5, 2007... The permanent five UNSC members and Germany on Nov. 2 began a meeting in London to discuss the terms of a new resolution which might trigger fresh sanctions against Iran. At the start of a critical month of diplomacy between Iran and the West,...

Saudi Wahhabism - Background Of Its Spread.(Reprint)
November 5, 2007... The following is an anticle published on Oct. 30 by Malise Ruthven, author of "Islam In The World": "King Abdullah's [Oct. 29] complaint that British authorities ignored Saudi warnings of an imminent attack on the UK before the atrocities of 7...

Sudan Violence Worries Saudis.(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... Another issue worrying the Saudis is the violence in Sudan's western province of Darfur and a renewal of North-South tension. The UNSC on Oct. 31 voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the 18,800-strong UN force monitoring a 2005 peace deal...

Somali PM Quits As Violence Deteriorates.(Ali Muhammad Gedi )
November 5, 2007... Also worrying the Saudis is the deteriorating violence in Somalia. Somali PM Ali Muhammad Gedi on Oct. 29 resigned after a long feud with the country's president which was imperilling the country's beleaguered transitional government. Gedi, a...

Pakistan - Musharraf's Coup & Its Regional Implications; Most Scenarios Are Bad.
November 12, 2007... *** Al-Qaeda, Being Pushed Out Of Iraq, Saudi Arabia & Other Mashreq States, Is Focusing On North Africa - With Zawahiri Saying Libya's Is Among Maghreb Regimes To Be Overthrown As The Neo-Salafi Movement Is Getting Closer To Andalusia - See...

The Taliban's Role & Implications For Afghanistan.
November 12, 2007... The Pakistani army had prevented the Taliban from launching their post-Ramadan offensive into Afghanistan by invading North and South Waziristans on Oct. 7. They managed to set up a counter engagement by stirring their network in the Swat...

Lebanon - A Cause Of Regional Wars Or Catalyst For Regional Peace, To Be Decided Soon.
November 19, 2007... *** Saudi Arabia & The Rest Of The GCC, Plus Egypt, Jordan, Fatah And The March 14 Forces In Lebanon - Part Of The US-Led Alliance - Want Stability And Security In The Middle East & A 'Viable' Palestine State *** The Iran-Led Axis Wants A...

Saudis & Egypt Urge Serious ME Talks.(Saudi Arabia, Middle East)
November 19, 2007... King Abdullah ibn Abdul-Aziz, in Riyadh on Nov. 11 at the end of a successful six-state tour, has called for serious peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel to be held at Annapolis, Maryland, later this year under the auspices of the...

Iran Could Reach Nuclear Goal In A Year.
November 19, 2007... The Financial Times on Nov. 17 reported "several distinguished physicists and nuclear weapons experts" as saying Iran was speeding up its nuclear programme and could develop enough material for a bomb well ahead of the 2010-2015 period...

China Won't Meet On UNSC Move.(United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran)
November 19, 2007... Reuters on Nov. 16 quoted European diplomats as saying a meeting of Western officials scheduled for Nov. 19 to discuss tougher UNSC sanctions on Iran had been cancelled because China had pulled out. Political directors from Britain, China,...

Khamenei Urged To Rein In President.(Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)
November 19, 2007... Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is under increasing pressure to rein in President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad over his radical stance on the Shi'ite theocracy's nuclear and regional ambitions. The pressure is coming from reformists and...

Abbas Hits Hamas.(Mahmoud Abbas)
November 19, 2007... Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Nov. 15 said the Gaza Strip's Hamas Islamist rulers must be brought down, issuing his strongest call yet for their removal. "We have to bring down this gang which forcibly took...

Olmert Again Courts Assad.(Ehud Olmert, Bashar al-Assad)(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... The Israeli Yediot Aharonot daily on Nov. 13 reported that PM Olmert had renewed his secret peace overtures to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, telling him Israel was willing to return the captured Golan Heights if Damascus severed its ties...

Venezuela Leads The Wave Of Resource Nationalism; Saudis Keeps The Balance In OPEC.
November 26, 2007... *** Visiting Tehran After OPEC's Riyadh Summit, Chavez Echoed The Wish Of His Host, President Ahmadi-Nejad, That They Will Soon Celebrate The Collapse Of The Dollar And The US Empire *** Assad Keeps Hoping To Regain Lebanon As Part Of...

OPEC To Tackle Falling US$.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, dollar)
November 26, 2007... At Abu Dhabi, the OPEC foreign and finance ministers are to study further the effect of a falling US dollar on the member-states' economies after calls for the organisation to price crude oil in currencies other than the greenback. The move,...

Chavez In Tehran.(Hugo Chavez in Iran)
November 26, 2007... Presidents Chavez and Ahmadi-Nejad on Nov. 19 agreed to set up a joint bank and a fund for industrial co-operation. Chavez said other states might join the bank and the fund later on. He echoed Ahmadi-Nejad's view at a Tehran press conference:...

The Changes In Latin America.
November 26, 2007... Results of elections in Latin America in recent years offered a mandate for the new leaders to bring about change. It was to be a radical departure from policies which, in the name of free-market economics which hid corruption from the top, had...

The Democratic Dimension & US Moves.(Brief article)
November 26, 2007... Equally great is the democratic challenge of these new rulers, some of whom have totalitarian tendencies. Such is the case of Chavez who has Castro as a mentor and who ridicules free-market promoters in Latin America. His excessive zeal against...

Saudis' Crude-Long Outlook Vs Price Hawks.
November 26, 2007... In the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, OPEC used to be split between "the crude-long group", i.e., those states with the largest reserves of conventional oil wanting to keep their price competitive with alternative fuels, and the...

GCC Investors Look Into US Bargains.(Gulf Cooperation Council )
November 26, 2007... Flush with liquidity mostly held in US dollars, GCC investors are considering investments in distressed US financial assets as they try to turn the turmoil in credit markets into a regional opportunity. The FT on Nov. 20 quoted Omar bin...