FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON U.S. ARAB RELATIONS

Saudi, GCC Conference Opened to All 
in Washington D.C. Oct. 30-31, 2006;
Saudi Ambassador Keynote Speaker 

WASHINGTON � By popular demand, both days of the 15th Annual Arab U.S. Policymakers Conference of the National Council on US Arab Relations (NCUSAR) on October 30-31, 2006, have been opened to the public. The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal, will be the featured keynote speaker at the first day luncheon.

�It will be first come, first served,� said Conference Coordinator Hassan Al-Husseini. �We expect to have a full house with a capacity audience at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C. We recommend early registration by filling out the form in the website www.ncusar.org.�

Regular registration by Oct. 25 for both days is $300, but a 50% discount has been offered to academic and government employees, both civilians and military. In addition, students and retirees will be able to attend both days for only $100, a 66% discount. A special corporate rate has been obtained at a nearby hotel.

Included in the fees are all conference sessions, two luncheons and two receptions. Conference attendees will all receive gift books and publications from the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and other sponsors. The full registration fee schedule is:

Fill out a registration form and submit it back to the National Council via fax (202-293-7770) or regular mail. The conference registration form is available online.  CLICK HERE

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

The first day of the Conference, Monday Oct. 30, will have the theme of "Taking Stock of the Saudi Arabian U.S. Relationship: Examining the Implications for Interests and Policies". The President of the U.S. Saudi Arabian Business Council, Mr. Edward Burton, will host an afternoon reception at the Ronald Reagan Building that day. This will be followed on Tuesday Oct. 31 by a �Forum on the Future of the Gulf Cooperation Council� to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the GCC. 

A number of prominent American, Saudi Arabian and other Gulf personalities, including former and current ambassadors and officials from the United States and the GCC countries will speak. In addition to HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, there will be the Qatari Ambassador H.E. Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, U.S. Ambassador Chas Freeman (President of the Middle East Policy Council, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia); Dr. Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Division's Near East Section -- on Iran; and Dr. Michael Collins Dunn, The Editor of both The Estimate and the Middle East Journal - on Iraq.

Other speakers include Dr. Joseph Moynihan, Northrop Grumman Vice President and founding Executive Director of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research - on intra-Gulf regional defense cooperation issues; Ambassador Theodore Kattouf, AMIDEAST President and former US Ambassador to the UAE and Syria - on GCC and education-related issues; former U.S. Ambassadors to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan, Walter Cutler and Wyche Fowler; the chairmen or senior executives of oil companies Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Marathon, and ConocoPhillips; Department of U.S. Energy representative; Council on Foreign Relations Director for Near East Studies Rachel Bronson; Dr. Nahed Taher, Chairman and CEO of Gulf One Bank in Bahrain; and numerous others.

The National Council�s President and CEO, and Chairman of the Conference, Dr. John Duke Anthony, said panel discussions will focus on the strategic, economic, political, commercial, energy, defense cooperation, and people-to-people relations between the United States and the GCC countries. One panel will feature oil company executives who will discuss the energy outlook, together with the prospects for heightened foreign direct investments and increased commercial and technological exchanges in both directions. Additional discussions will focus on the strategic dynamics of geopolitics as they pertain to intra-GCC issues and regional conflicts, such as efforts to achieve peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict, other issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to end the crises in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

The National Council is a non-profit institution which has organized educational and cultural events over the past 23 years. These include an annual Model Arab League for high school and university students in cities throughout the United States, a visitors program for American professors and others to various Arab countries, internship programs in both Washington D.C. and the Arab world, study abroad opportunities, and various other outreach programs.

Contact: Hassan Al-Husseini Mobile ++1 202-344-6245 or 
Pat Mancino Mobile ++1-202-277-1011 Office ++202-293-6466