A visiting Austrian official has warned against using religious tendencies for violence and has called for working to promote religious tolerance as exemplified by the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAAICIID), which was established in Vienna.
Vice Chancellor of Austria and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Michael Spindelegger, who descried his counterpart Prince Saud Al Faisal as “the most experienced and veteran foreign minister in the world,” said that Saudi-Austria relations are excellent and that the two countries support each other on issues of mutual interest, with special reference to political issues, cultural economy and interfaith dialogue.
In a joint press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday, the two ministers expressed their concern on the Syrian issue while calling the Syrian people to immediately halt the bloodshed.
In his remark, Prince Saud Al-Faisal reiterated the importance of a unified international approach to dealing with the crisis in Syria and lamented the UN Security Council’s responsibility to take a firm stance that preserves Syria’s security, stability and the unity of its national soil and to respond the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.
“Regarding political issues of mutual interest, we discussed the situation in Syria in light of the latest development in the Syrian arena and the necessity of an immediate halt to the bloodshed of the Syrian people,” he explained.
He stressed “my country believes that the brutality of the Syrian regime against its own people requires empowering the people of Syria to defend themselves.”
“Our meeting today was an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, how to enhance them and take them to a new horizon as would be appropriate for our aspirations and the resources that two countries enjoy” he reaffirmed.
He further added “we hope to establish cooperational ties by activating current agreements and memorandums of understanding, as well as the joint committee and the business council that we had agreed upon last year.”
Prince Saud said: “I must praise the level of cultural cooperation between our two countries, which culminated in the establishment of KAAICIID. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the interfaith center was established in Vienna, thanks to the deep history and unique location the city of Vienna enjoys within human civilization,” he added.
He continued: “In terms of the Arab-Israeli conflict, I would like to value Austria’s stance in supporting the UN General Assembly’s resolution to grant Palestine observer status at the UN. This resolution reaffirms that the majority of the international community are with the legitimate rights of the Palestinians people, owing to Israel’s intransigence on the one hand and the Security Council’s failure to put its relevant resolutions into action on the other.”
The two officials also talked about the Iranian nuclear program, especially in light of Iran’s failure to respond to international diplomatic efforts at resolving this crises peacefully. They added that they hoped for a guarantee that the program would only be used for peaceful purposes in accordance with the standards and procedures of the IAEA and under its supervision.
“We also talked about the Malian crisis,” he said, adding that the Kingdom deems it necessary that the Malian problem be placed under the umbrella of the UN so that it could supervise and sponsor efforts to reach an agreement between north and south, while also supervising the activities of the African forces through an adequate number of UN observers.
Yemen also held a share of the talks. “We are hopeful that everyone would participate in a comprehensive national dialogue conference there next March and hope that the outcome of the conference will unify the varying visions of all elements of Yemeni society towards the present and future of their country. That will fulfill the GCC initiative and its executive plan that aims to keep Yemen unified, secure and stable and provide for a new civil state based on the principles of justice, equality and respect for everyone’s rights while taking into consideration the injustices suffered by southern Yemen and resolving them.”
