Will Speaker Pelosi be able to do with diplomacy, what Bush has not been able to do with the largest most powerful military in the world?
Saudi Ambassador to the US Adel Al-Jubair and senior officials from the Shoura Council and the Foreign Ministry greeted Pelosi at the airport in Riyadh last night.
Melisa Ford, press attaché at the US Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News that the meeting took place at the king’s ranch just outside of the capital. Pelosi is scheduled to visit members of the Shoura Council, the Kingdom’s appointed consultative body. Although she would not say what the topic of the discussion would be, her talks are likely to touch on the Arab League summit last week where the Saudi peace initiative was relaunched.
A Saudi official told The Associated Press earlier yesterday that Israel must accept the terms of the peace initiative before Saudi Arabia would come to the table. The initiative stipulates that in exchange for full recognition as a Middle East neighbor, Israel must roll back to pre-1967 boundaries and allow a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes in Israel is a major sticking point, and Israel wants recognition of its right to exist as a precursor to any negotiations. Syria wants the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
http://yalibnan.com/...
Thinking outside the box is what is need.
Not much news from this meeting ......yet.
Background:
Saudi king decided to take matters into his own hands
Beirut & Riyadh - Strange things are happening in Saudi Arabia. First, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah brokered a deal between Fatah and Hamas, a religious party that won a popular election — not an example the kingdom is keen to promote.
Then, by hosting the Arab League summit, the king decided to embrace a meeting of Arab leaders best known for discord and crisis (eight heads of state, including Saudi Arabia's, declined invitations in 2005 and ten the following year in Khartoum). Meanwhile, the Saudi king hosted Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reportedly canceled a state dinner with President George W. Bush in Washington. As if all this weren't perplexing enough for seasoned Saudi watchers, last Wednesday, the king issued an extremely hard-line statement branding America's "occupation" in Iraq "illegal." This, from an ally that usually works quietly behind the scenes. What is going on?
snip
There are two international forces driving Saudi Arabia's current policy that help to explain the kingdom's suddenly forceful presence on the political scene. The first is a faltering global partner unable to help Saudi Arabia secure its regional interests — the United States.
snip
The second trend that is driving a more assertive Saudi policy — one that is related to the first — is Iran's growing confidence.
http://yalibnan.com/...
UPDATE II:
Report: Israeli objections delaying U.S. arms sale to Arab countries
Israeli objections are delaying a major arms-sale package that the Bush administration is planning to offer Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to deter Iran, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Israeli government officials confirmed the report, saying that Israel has pressed the United States not to offer a major weapons deal to its Gulf Arab allies for fear it would damage Israel's military deterrent in the Middle East.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz raised the matter during a March 11 meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the officials said on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive subject with the press.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
Flood gates opening....once people start talking!
Shlomo Goldwasser: Gov't must talk to Hezbollah as U.K. did Iran
Israel should learn from the British government and hold direct talks with the captors of its seized soldiers, the father of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Ehud Goldwasser said Thursday following the release of 15 British sailors seized two weeks ago by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf.
"I know that they want to make deals through direct one-on-one talks, without mediations in the middle," Shlomo Goldwasser told the 150 demonstrators who had gathered in Tel Aviv as part of a cross-Israel journey in support of releasing the captive IDF soldiers.
"It doesn't interest me that according to the law Hezbollah is defined as a terror organization," Goldwasser said. "We can talk to Hezbollah in order to return our sons home."
http://www.haaretz.com/...
British envoy meets with Hamas PM over abducted BBC reporter
A British envoy met Thursday with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to discuss efforts to free abducted BBC journalist Alan Johnston, a British diplomat said.
The meeting comes despite a European Union ban on contacts with Hamas, which is on the EU list of terrorist organizations.
"This is just to discuss the kidnapping. It doesn't represent a change of policy," a British diplomat said about talks Consul-General Richard Makepeace planned with Haniyeh in Gaza.
"We requested the meeting to discuss the kidnapping. This is the first time we have met with Haniyeh," the diplomat said.
http://www.haaretz.com/...