RIYADH - US ally Saudi Arabia believes militant group Hamas should moderate its stance towards Israel, but its victory in Palestinian polls could create pressure for more Saudi funding, officials and analysts say.
Bowing to pressure from the United States, Israels chief ally, Saudi Arabia has sharply reduced its direct funding for the Palestinian Islamist group, which swept to victory last week over the Fatah group which has dominated peace talks since 1993. Riyadh officially says it funds only the Palestinian Authority.
"Those other accounts? Those are .. um .. petty cash funds for widows and orphans."
A Saudi cabinet statement issued on Monday said the international community should accept the results and pressure Israel to make peace. The international community should respect the will of the Palestinian people, it said.
We certainly respect that they've opted for terror over statehood.
But a Saudi official said Hamas, which has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since Palestinians launched an uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000, would have to meet the obligations of peace. Its a democratic process that brought in a group of people who hopefully will have to adjust their direction and rhetoric in order to meet the obligations of peace, he told Reuters.
"But if not, oh well."
Saudi funding for the Palestinian Authority would continue in accordance with international norms, he said. We are guided by the United Nations. We dont give money to any group, just the Authority. Its all transparent, he said.
Then his lips fell off, his nose grow, and his hair turned a rich henna color.
A Saudi security report recently presented to the authorities said Riyadh could find itself under pressure to increase its support for a Hamas-run Palestinian Authority (PA). A victory by Hamas presents a challenge to Saudi Arabia in that this financial support will likely need to be increased if the United States and Europe reduce or refuse to support a Hamas-controlled Palestinian government, it said, describing Saudi Arabia as the biggest financial backer of the PA.
Which would require the princelings to be generous, ala ...
In addition, private Saudi citizens and charitable foundations donate approximately $150 million per year to purchase guns and ammo support the general social and economic programmes in the Palestinian territories, said the report obtained by Reuters. A Hamas victory will further complicate relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States since the kingdom will continue to remain a chief supporter of Hamas, said the report, written by Saudi security adviser Nawaf Obaid.
Nothing that the creation of the Republic of Eastern Arabia couldn't solve.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2006 00:00 ||
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The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed Monday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.
China and Russia, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran, signed on to a statement that calls on the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency to transfer the Iran dossier to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions or take other harsh action.
The foreign ministers from China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain also said the Security Council should wait until March to take up the Iran case, after a formal report on Tehran's activities from the watchdog agency.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other foreign ministers discussed Iran at a private dinner at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. After the four-hour meeting, which spilled over into the early hours Tuesday, a joint statement called on the IAEA to report the Iran case when it meets in Vienna on Thursday.
Foreign ministers from Germany and the European Union also attended the dinner and agreed to what amounted to a compromise - take the case to the Security Council but allow a short breather before the council must undertake what could be a divisive debate.
The group agreed that the IAEA "should report to the Security Council its decision on the steps required of Iran, and should also report to the Security Council all IAEA reports as resolutions as adopted relating to this issue," a statement from the group said.
The Council could ultimately impose sanctions against Iran but there are many steps before this could happen.
"(The ministers) call on Iran to restore in full the suspension of (uranium) enrichment-related activity, including research and development under the supervision of the IAEA," said the statement.
The IAEA has already found Iran in violation of nuclear obligations and issued a stern warning to Tehran in September. Thursday's vote would be the next step, one long sought by the United States.
Iran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity. The United States and some allies say Iran is hiding ambitions to build a nuclear bomb, but the Security Council members have been divided aout how strong a line to take.
It is still not clear how Russia and China would vote if the questions of sanctions came before the Security Council. It is also not clear that the United States will win the broad international consensus it seeks when the IAEA votes.
EFL - Tea Leaves and Portents
Oil ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday rejected Iranian proposals to cut the cartels oil production, opting instead to sustain current production levels amid continuing uncertainty surrounding Tehrans nuclear programme. hint?
Opec, which controls 40 per cent of the worlds oil supplies, is expected to confirm a rollover of its current 28m barrel a day production at Mondays ministerial meeting in Vienna.
However, diplomatic wrangling over Irans nuclear ambitions is likely to remain the biggest factor overhanging the oil market this week, after European diplomats on Monday dismissed Tehrans latest attempt to avoid a referral to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear programme. Irans proposal 10 days ago for Opec to reduce production by 1m barrels a day - or nearly 4 per cent - pushed oil prices close to $70 a barrel. temporarily....I'm hearing $100/bbl on commencement of hostilities - dropping back to $60-70 after til everything settles down. We have a supply glut in the US right now - mild winter = low fueloil use and increased shipments have led to a excess above needed refinery capacity right now. Europe is about even
Some diplomats and analysts had interpreted Tehrans call for a cut in production as a political message, aimed at warning the west that Iran would be willing to use oil production as a weapon in the battle over its nuclear programme.
But Opec watchers cautioned that the call for a production cut reflected Irans usual hawkish stance of aggressively protecting oil prices. Edmund Daukoru, Opec president and Nigerias energy minister, on Monday refused to consider the Iranian proposal to cut output, saying: Thats a diplomatic question, Id rather talk about oil and prices.
Oil futures rose 4 cents on Monday to $67.80 barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Iran is Opecs second largest oil producer, pumping 4m barrels a day and exporting 2.5m of them. A halt in its output would send international oil prices to more than $100 barrels a day, analysts predict. note: a short-term increase while hurting on filling up at the pump, goes even further in weaning us from the oilticks. The oilsands et al become more feasible as an alternative with every increase
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2006 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
RIYADH - US ally Saudi Arabia believes militant group Hamas should moderate its stance towards Israel, but its victory in Palestinian polls could create pressure for more Saudi funding, officials and analysts say.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed Monday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.
