03-04-2007, 02:43 PM
RIYADH, IRAN FIGHT SUNNI-SHIITE STRIFE
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satel...=Article_C&cid=1172571543388&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
"Fortunately we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies and we condemned them," said Ahmadinejad (L). (Reuters)
RIYADH — Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to stem attempts to fuel Sunni-Shiite strife, following a report by an award-winning US investigative reporter that Washington was fanning the sectarian flames in the region.
"The two parties have agreed to stop any attempt aimed at spreading sectarian strife in the region," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters, Reuters said.
King Abdullah and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad affirmed that the greatest danger presently threatening the Muslim nation is the attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunnis and Shiites, reported the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Ahmadinejad, who had previously met King Abdullah at an Islamic summit in Makkah in December 2005, told reporters after returning to Tehran he discussed with the monarch "the plots carried out by the enemies in order to divide the world of Islam."
"Fortunately we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies and we condemned them," he added.
The Iranian leader did not specify who the enemies were. Iran's chief Western foe, the US, is one of Riyadh's closest allies.
Award-winning American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has revealed that Washington was sowing a flammable Sunni-Shiite divide to weaken the newly-bolstered Iranian role in the region.
He said the American plan is based on executing clandestine operations in Iran, Lebanon and Syria, where financial support is given to strengthen Sunni groups and weaken Shiites.
Hersh claimed the US and Saudi Arabia have joined hands in the scheme because they see Iran as an existential threat.
Stable Iraq
SPA said the Saudi and Iranian leaders also saw eye to eye on the importance of stabilizing chaos-mired Iraq.
"They affirmed that they were keen on preserving Iraq's independence, national unity and equality between its citizens," it said.
The two oil powerhouses have sought to contain differences over Iraq, which at one point saw Saudi Arabia accusing the US of effectively handing the country to Iran and triggered reports — swiftly denied by Riyadh — of possible Saudi intervention on behalf of Sunnis.
Both heavyweight countries along with Syria have accepted Iraq's invitation to a regional conference in March, to be attended by the US.
Saudi-Iranian ties have been strained over Tehran's growing influence in Iraq and its perceived backing of Shiite militias accused of committing atrocities against Sunnis.
Four years after the 2003 US invasion, Iraq has been gripped by a bloody sectarian violence, with more than a hundred people being killed on a daily basis.
Only last year, more than 34,000 civilians died in the raging sectarian violence that reached a peak in the capital Baghdad.
Iraq's sectarian bloodletting has sparked fears of a region-wide Sunni-Shiite conflict.
In the first high-profile meeting between top Sunni and Shiite scholars, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran's influential Expediency Council, called on February 14 on Muslims worldwide to act in unison and take into their strides differences to face challenges ahead.
Volatile Lebanon
Lebanon has also severely tested ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which provides substantial financial aid to Beirut and has close links with the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
During the talks, Ahmadinejad reiterated support for the kingdom's efforts "to calm the situation in Lebanon and end its political crisis," according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He and King Abdullah expressed the hope that "all Lebanese sides will respond (positively) to these efforts."
Lebanon has been shaken to the bones by an opposition ministerial walkout and an open-ended protest demanding a national unity government or snap polls.
Riyadh and Tehran recently began working together to reduce tensions in the tiny Arab country.
According to Reuters, Saudi and Iranian officials have met several times in recent weeks to mediate between Lebanon's opposition and government.
But the talks, Saudi contacts with Washington and Paris as well as Iranian discussions with influential Syria, appear to have made little headway.
Nuclear Program
At his talks with King Abdullah, Ahmadinejad also voiced support for the Saudi-authored Arab peace initiative endorsed by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, SPA said without elaborating.
Under the plan, the Arab world would normalize ties with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Ahmadinejad had said that Israel should be "wiped from the map" and is doomed to disappear.
There was no word, however, whether the two leaders discussed Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia champions a nuclear-free Middle East, but is also keen to avert a US-Iran military showdown which could destabilize the entire Gulf region.
Ahmadinejad's visit came at a time when his country is under intense Western pressure over its nuclear program.
The UN Security Council permanent five plus Germany agreed Saturday to send the issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program to their UN representatives, after failing to resolve differences.
The UN nuclear watchdog reported last week that Iran had failed to halt its uranium enrichment work and was even expanding its efforts in defiance of international demands.
Iran is denying seeking atomic weapons, and asserts it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program.
It vowed again last week never to yield to the West's demand for a freeze on uranium enrichment.
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satel...=Article_C&cid=1172571543388&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
"Fortunately we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies and we condemned them," said Ahmadinejad (L). (Reuters)
RIYADH — Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to stem attempts to fuel Sunni-Shiite strife, following a report by an award-winning US investigative reporter that Washington was fanning the sectarian flames in the region.
"The two parties have agreed to stop any attempt aimed at spreading sectarian strife in the region," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters, Reuters said.
King Abdullah and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad affirmed that the greatest danger presently threatening the Muslim nation is the attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunnis and Shiites, reported the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Ahmadinejad, who had previously met King Abdullah at an Islamic summit in Makkah in December 2005, told reporters after returning to Tehran he discussed with the monarch "the plots carried out by the enemies in order to divide the world of Islam."
"Fortunately we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies and we condemned them," he added.
The Iranian leader did not specify who the enemies were. Iran's chief Western foe, the US, is one of Riyadh's closest allies.
Award-winning American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has revealed that Washington was sowing a flammable Sunni-Shiite divide to weaken the newly-bolstered Iranian role in the region.
He said the American plan is based on executing clandestine operations in Iran, Lebanon and Syria, where financial support is given to strengthen Sunni groups and weaken Shiites.
Hersh claimed the US and Saudi Arabia have joined hands in the scheme because they see Iran as an existential threat.
Stable Iraq
SPA said the Saudi and Iranian leaders also saw eye to eye on the importance of stabilizing chaos-mired Iraq.
"They affirmed that they were keen on preserving Iraq's independence, national unity and equality between its citizens," it said.
The two oil powerhouses have sought to contain differences over Iraq, which at one point saw Saudi Arabia accusing the US of effectively handing the country to Iran and triggered reports — swiftly denied by Riyadh — of possible Saudi intervention on behalf of Sunnis.
Both heavyweight countries along with Syria have accepted Iraq's invitation to a regional conference in March, to be attended by the US.
Saudi-Iranian ties have been strained over Tehran's growing influence in Iraq and its perceived backing of Shiite militias accused of committing atrocities against Sunnis.
Four years after the 2003 US invasion, Iraq has been gripped by a bloody sectarian violence, with more than a hundred people being killed on a daily basis.
Only last year, more than 34,000 civilians died in the raging sectarian violence that reached a peak in the capital Baghdad.
Iraq's sectarian bloodletting has sparked fears of a region-wide Sunni-Shiite conflict.
In the first high-profile meeting between top Sunni and Shiite scholars, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran's influential Expediency Council, called on February 14 on Muslims worldwide to act in unison and take into their strides differences to face challenges ahead.
Volatile Lebanon
Lebanon has also severely tested ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which provides substantial financial aid to Beirut and has close links with the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
During the talks, Ahmadinejad reiterated support for the kingdom's efforts "to calm the situation in Lebanon and end its political crisis," according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He and King Abdullah expressed the hope that "all Lebanese sides will respond (positively) to these efforts."
Lebanon has been shaken to the bones by an opposition ministerial walkout and an open-ended protest demanding a national unity government or snap polls.
Riyadh and Tehran recently began working together to reduce tensions in the tiny Arab country.
According to Reuters, Saudi and Iranian officials have met several times in recent weeks to mediate between Lebanon's opposition and government.
But the talks, Saudi contacts with Washington and Paris as well as Iranian discussions with influential Syria, appear to have made little headway.
Nuclear Program
At his talks with King Abdullah, Ahmadinejad also voiced support for the Saudi-authored Arab peace initiative endorsed by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, SPA said without elaborating.
Under the plan, the Arab world would normalize ties with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Ahmadinejad had said that Israel should be "wiped from the map" and is doomed to disappear.
There was no word, however, whether the two leaders discussed Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia champions a nuclear-free Middle East, but is also keen to avert a US-Iran military showdown which could destabilize the entire Gulf region.
Ahmadinejad's visit came at a time when his country is under intense Western pressure over its nuclear program.
The UN Security Council permanent five plus Germany agreed Saturday to send the issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program to their UN representatives, after failing to resolve differences.
The UN nuclear watchdog reported last week that Iran had failed to halt its uranium enrichment work and was even expanding its efforts in defiance of international demands.
Iran is denying seeking atomic weapons, and asserts it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program.
It vowed again last week never to yield to the West's demand for a freeze on uranium enrichment.