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EDITOR'S NOTE:
The following item of interest brings you breaking news about Saudi
Arabia's proposal to send Islamic forces into Iraq to counter
insurgents and terrorists. It is followed by a transcript of U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks with Saudi Foreign Minister
Saud Al-Faisal, made prior to the Islamic force announcement. Powell
and Saud Al-Faisal talked discussed the issue of reform in the Kingdom
and other regional and bilateral issues.
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Saudi Arabia Proposes Sending Islamic Forces to
Iraq
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On July 28, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah
during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jeddah, announced a proposal to
create an Islamic group of forces to counter violence in Iraq and hasten the
withdrawal of the Coalition forces.
Saudi officials stressed that the
proposal is still in the preliminary stage according to the Washington Post
but it was reported that the Kingdom discussed the idea with other Arab
and Muslim countries as well as the United Nations in the past three weeks.
Saudi Arabia's proposal is
aimed at helping in the stabilization of Iraq and at creating greater security
for the region. Gulf News reported infiltration of Iraqi
militants into the Kingdom has been a concern for Saudi Arabia. Details
of the proposal are not yet available but the Washington Post quoted
Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel Jubeir as saying: "We're taking this
initiative because a) we want to help the Iraqi people get back on their feet
and reclaim their sovereignty as quickly as possible, b) because there is a
tremendous desire in the Arab and Muslim world to help Iraq and help the Iraqi
people get back on their feet and c) we're doing this because instability in
Iraq has a negative impact on Saudi Arabia and stability in Iraq has a very
positive impact on Saudi Arabia. We want to stabilize the situation in
Iraq."
No countries had yet agreed to participate in
the proposed force, according to a Saudi official cited in the Washington Post
report. However, the official noted Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria,
Bangladesh and Morocco were "among strong possibilities."
Countries that border Iraq -- such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan -- would not be
among the forces.
The Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service
will provide additional details on this development as they become available.
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Remarks to the Press with Saudi Foreign
Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
Conference Palace Hotel -- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
July 28, 2004
 Foreign
Minister Saud: (in Arabic) In the name of God, I would like to express my
welcome to Secretary of State and to express our pleasure with the discussions
that we had so far, which we have not finished yet. There will be another
round of negotiations after this meeting. Mr. Powell has met the Custodians of
the Two Mosques and reviewed the results of the trip he has made. And, he's
had talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, which discussed the situation in the
Middle East, in Iraq and mutual efforts in fighting terrorism, and what
international cooperation is required in this regard. Mr. Powell has spent the
day, which was a long day actually, and by moving from one country to another
with grueling talks. We will be happy if your questions were confined to only
four: two from the American side and two from the local press. I hope that
those four questions will be to Mr. Powell (laughter).
Thank you.
 Secretary
Powell: Well, I'd just say good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is a
great pleasure to be back in the Kingdom. As my colleague the Foreign Minister
said, we have had a good set of discussions. I was pleased to be received by
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd, and had a very extensive
conversation with the Crown Prince, his Royal Highness. We covered a full
range of bilateral issues, focusing on the war on terrorism, and I noted the
success of the Saudi government has had in recent months in going after
terrorists who were threatening Saudi Arabia. A little over a year ago when I
was here just after the terrible attack in the contractor area, I recall how
committed the Saudis were at that time to go after terrorists. They have
identified some 19 terrorists who might have been involved. And, as of today,
18 of those 19 terrorists have either been caught or killed. So, I
congratulate the government for their commitment to fight terrorism.
I also thanked them for their
continuing support of our efforts around the world. I was pleased to note that
Saudi Arabia has reestablished now diplomatic contacts, diplomatic relations
with the Interim Government in Iraq. And, I look forward to seeing Prime
Minister Allawi tomorrow to discuss his assessment of the situation in Iraq.
Mr. Minister, thank you so much for
your hospitality. And, let's go right to questions because we still have
another session to come.
Question: Mr. Foreign
Minister, does Saudi Arabia have any kind of a proposal for the possibility of
deploying Arab troops in Iraq? And, was this discussed today? Mr. Secretary,
your response?
Foreign Minister Saud: We had
preliminary discussion with the Secretary on that, but we are having a
detailed discussion on it later on this evening. So, I would like to, if
possible, delay the response on how this discussion went until after the
meeting.
Question: My question is, Mr.
Powell, the Secretary of the State, first of all allow me to welcome you in
Saudi Arabia. And my question, sir, is, based on your evaluation of the
current situation in Iraq, do the advantages that the United States has
achieved justify to the world what is happening in Iraq now? And, the other
part of the question, based on these achievements has the world become now
more secure and less hostile towards the United States? Thank you.
Secretary Powell: As a result
of the efforts of the United States, and the Coalition, a terrible
dictatorship has been removed, and the Iraqi people have the opportunity to
build a democracy based on the rule of law, with the rights of all citizens
protected, with the military under civilian control, with an independent
judiciary. And, the Iraqi people now have their sovereignty back in the form
of an Iraqi Interim Government, which will be a caretaker government until
elections could be held. We believe that this is a significant achievement.
The ones who are trying to undercut
and destroy this achievement are those leftover elements of the previous
regime and terrorists who have come in to Iraq to make trouble. So, the
terrible scenes that we continue to see, the horrible murder of innocent
Iraqis in Baquaba today and other actions of this kind cannot be allowed to
succeed. They must be fought against; they must be resisted by the
international coalition, as well as by Iraqi security forces. Because the
Iraqi people want a life free of this kind of murderous activity, this kind of
terrorism, this kind of barbarism, we must not waver. We must not grow faint
at the dangers we now are facing. We must overcome this insurgency, overcome
the terrorists, in order to give the Iraqi people what they deserve and what
they want. So, we will stay the course.
Question: Thank you. This is a
question for both your Royal Highness and for Secretary Powell. Both of you
have recently made statements, or have been asked about the recommendations
and findings of the September 11th Commission in the United States.
And, it seems that neither of you have really addressed the central
recommendation on the need for reform inside the kingdom to address the
deep-seated and deep-rooted radicalism that gave birth to 15 of 19 hijackers,
in the Commission's words. Is that because you disagree with that
recommendation, or what is your response in general to that?
Foreign Minister Saud: Well,
how can we disagree with the recommendation that we are undertaking? Reforms
in Saudi Arabia have been announced by the leaders of this country. We are
convinced of this with the people of Saudi Arabia. We have started the
process, we have changed our institutions and make up. The consultative
council has more authority. We have elections coming in the fall for the
municipal council. We have started a debate in the country about all aspects
of the reform process in order to establish a consensus, a way of reaching
agreement, a process of achieving agreements on difficult issues the country
is facing, that will lead to further steps and further activities in this
regard. I do not think the issue is whether the Secretary and I agree on it.
It is the whole country that is working on this issue, and all you have to do
is read the newspapers in Saudi Arabia to see what steps are being taken in
this regard.
Secretary Powell: His Royal
Highness and I have discussed reform many times. In fact, as we were driving
from the airport to see the keeper of the two holy mosques, we talked about it
some more in his car. And, we talked about the upcoming municipal elections.
The process for these elections will begin in the fall.
As you know, the United States has
been encouraging reform in this part of the world, as well as other parts of
the world. But, each nation in the world, but especially in this part of the
world, has to determine what reform process they wish to follow based on their
own tradition, history, culture, political development, social development,
economic development, and their beliefs. And, the United States and the G-8
members have expressed at the Sea Island summit, stand ready to assist. But,
reform has to come from within. It has to come from the bottom up, with the
top meaning, in this case, that those of us on the outside that might be able
to provide assistance and advice are willing to help. There is no question
that, as the Minister has said, that the Saudi leadership understands that
reform is appropriate, and the Saudi people are looking to their leaders for
reform, and the reform is underway. And, it would have to be at the pace that
is satisfactory to the Saudi leadership and the people of Saudi Arabia. The
United States stands ready as a friend to assist in any way that might be
appropriate and might be requested.
Foreign Minister Saud: We have
always said that reforms cannot be tailor-made for everybody. We will develop
our system according to the wishes of the people (inaudible) of Saudi Arabia.
These reforms are being handled with complete transparency, with the complete
involvement of the Saudi citizens, and we are not only hoping but convinced
that these steps that we have started will continue until we reach the optimum
possible government that will be to the benefit of the Saudi people.
Question: (in Arabic) The
Question is for Secretary Powell. Until when would the United States keep
looking upon Arabs and Muslims, or judging them, by what some fundamentalist
terrorists have done? Those terrorists, in reality, did not belong to Islam?
And, when will we see an active and effective role of the United States in the
Middle East region? Thank you.
Secretary Powell: Neither the
President, nor I, nor any of my colleagues in the Administration, or for that
matter I think I could speak for the America people, see Arabs and Muslims in
the image of terrorists. We believe that what terrorists do is absolutely
inconsistent with your religious beliefs and the teachings of the Koran. And,
in fact, the President has gone out of his way to reach out to Arab and Muslim
leaders and to reach out to American Arabs and American Muslims to make it
clear to them that we in no way believe that the actions of these few
murderers and killers reflect Islam or reflect the Arab world. In fact, many
of the people who are being killed now here, in Saudi Arabia and in Iraq, are
Muslims. And, that will continue to be our position, and we will do everything
to convey that view to the entire world.
With respect to the situation in the
Middle East, we remain deeply engaged. We are working with the Israeli
government as they structure their disengagement strategy to bring settlements
out of Gaza and begin the elimination of settlements in the West Bank,
beginning with four initially, all consistent with the Road Map, part of the
Road Map, with the Quartet being engaged, and with final status issues to be
resolved not by the United States, not by the UN, not by outsiders but by the
two parties working with each other. This President's vision remains the same.
It's a vision that is shared by the Crown Prince, and frankly, to some extent
it was inspired by the Crown Prince. And, that is for a Palestinian state,
living side by side in peace with Israel.
On the Palestinian side, we have been
watching the developments closely in recent days, as Prime Minister Qurei and
Chairman Arafat discuss their mutual responsibilities within the Palestinian
Authority. And, I hope that the reports that we received in the last two days
of the provision of authority, giving authority to the Prime Minister to take
charge of security institutions and reduce the number of security institutions
and make them more efficient and effective under the direct supervision of the
Prime Minister -- I hope these reports are accurate because it will empower
the Prime Minister in a way that will allow him to work with Egyptians and
others to put in place a security force that can protect Gaza when the Israeli
withdrawal takes place.
The United States will remain fully
engaged, as we have. And, I hope that the opportunity of disengagement that
has now come along will be seized by the Palestinian side as an opportunity
that can get us on the Road Map to peace and the Road Map to a Palestinian
state.
Thank you.
[Source: U.S.
Department of State]
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