JEDDAH, 7 July 2007 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal yesterday reiterated Saudi Arabia’s call for a peaceful solution to the international standoff over Iran’s nuclear energy program and downplayed the idea of Tehran targeting GCC countries in the wake of a possible US strike against it.
“We have expressed our hope that the Iranian crisis is solved peacefully,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Saud as saying after a meeting of GCC foreign ministers here on Thursday night.
Asked about the chances of Iran striking at Gulf countries in the event of hostilities, the prince said: “I haven’t heard of such a suggestion ... but it is inappropriate.”
Prince Saud, however, emphasized the right of nations to possess nuclear power and the commitment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) toward international nonproliferation treaties. The GCC that groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE, plans to develop nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
The GCC meeting urged Israel to join the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT) and give international inspectors access to its nuclear facilities. It also wanted to make the Middle East free of mass destructive weapons.
GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah disclosed the group’s plan to set up a center to handle crises and disasters.
Experts from the six-member GCC will meet in the next few days to “define the tasks and responsibilities” of the center, he said.
Attiyah’s announcement comes to the backdrop of mounting violence in Iraq and Iran’s standoff with the West. It also comes two days after GCC foreign and defense ministers met in Riyadh in the presence of intelligence chiefs to coordinate strategy on countering the potential fallout from the Iraq and Iran crises.
Attiyah said ministers handling environment affairs in GCC member states would follow up the establishment of the proposed center and formulate mechanisms for its operations.
Answering a question related to the Israeli demand to hold talks with Saudi officials on the Middle East peace plan, Prince Saud said, “First, we are not going to meet them. Second, we will raise our objections against all their activities that do not lead to peace.”
The GCC ministers called for the situation in the Gaza Strip to return to how it was before Hamas seized control last month.
“(We) demand the return of the situation in the Gaza Strip to how it was before the latest incidents,” a final communiqué issued after the meeting said. Hamas took over Gaza in mid-June in a bloody rift with the Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.
The GCC ministers urged the Palestinian groups to resume dialogue to end their differences. It called for “respect for the Palestinian national legitimacy headed by Abbas, and respect for the Palestinian Authority’s legitimate institutions ... including the elected Palestinian Legislative Council.”
The meeting also reminded the Palestinian leaders of the peace accord they signed in the holy city of Makkah and abide by its terms and conditions that prohibit Palestinians killing each other. It also denounced Israeli intransigence to peace overtures.
