The US will not negotiate with extremists who carry out terrorist attacks, and the only language to deal with these elements is their own language, a senior US diplomat told the Khaleej Times yesterday. "There is no way that we can initiate dialogue with these elements who only believe in violence. There is no logic in talking to them in a language that they do not understand. We can initiate a dialogue with those who believe in dialogue," Dr Nabil Khouri, deputy head of the US diplomatic mission in Yemen told 'Khaleej Times'. "Dealing with those who blow up cars could only be through security means," he said. He was responding to a question regarding a solution to the escalating attacks against US targets in the region following Monday's attack on the US Consulate in Jeddah that killed nine people.
Dr Khouri said the attack was another indication of the dangerous security situation in the Middle East and other parts of the world. He said these attacks call for bolstering security cooperation with countries of the region in order to eradicate these organisations and curb the escalating violent acts committed by them. Dr Khouri is of the view that the ideology these groups adopt is of the Stone Age. "They demand the Americans to get out of the Arabian Peninsula. But even after the departure of the US forces from the kingdom, we still have to have American diplomats there. This is the age of globalisation, and you cannot be isolated from the rest of the world."
| Well all right, we have a diplomat with a pair. |
On what his first reaction was when following news about the attack as an Arab American, Dr Khouri diplomatically answered: "I fear for the lives of all the victims of those attacks." |