Egypt calls for joint Arab military force at summit
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Egypt's president has renewed calls for the creation of a joint Arab military force as it and other countries launch airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi made the comment Saturday while addressing a summit of Arab leaders in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Saying that the crises in the Middle East and North Africa region have reached an unprecedented danger, Sisi said he “backs calls for a unified Arab force” to confront regional security threats.
Sisi added that there is an urgent need to filter the religious rhetoric of extremism, emphasizing the need to support the elected, legitimate Libyan government.
The president also reiterated that Egypt’s participation in the Saudi-led coalition was ‘imperative,’ after meddling there by a foreign power – a thinly veiled reference to Iran, adding that it aims to preserve Yemen’s unity.
The campaign of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition was in response to a power grab in the impoverished nation by Iranian-backed Shiite rebels known as the Houthis.
Iran and the Houthis deny that Tehran arms the rebel movement.
Sisi also said Arab countries are facing an unprecedented threat to their stability and identity.
Sisi met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Yemen's embattled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi before the summit.
Sisi met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Yemen's embattled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi before the summit.
The 26th Arab League summit began on Saturday.
Also adressing the summit, King Salman vowed that the military intervention his country is leading against Shiite rebels in Yemen will continue until it brings "security" to the Yemeni people.
The campaign "will continue until it achieves its goals for the Yemeni people to enjoy security," the king said.
Earlier on, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah told a contingent of Arab leaders that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen poses a threat on the region.
Saudi King Salman addressing the Arab League Summit. (Al Arabiya)
"Rapid developments underway in Yemen pose a threat to our security," said al-Sabah during his opening speech, adding that Saudi Arabia and GCC countries had a right to defend their countries.
Al-Sabah also emphasized on the need to find a solution for the conflict in Libya. He then renewed calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in his address to summit attendees blamed Houthi rebels and ex-president Saleh for the ongoing crisis.
Tamim said Houthi militias should disarm and recognize the legitimacy of Yemen’s President Hadi.
In the same vein, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi welcomed the counter offensive against the Houthis in Yemen.
In his address at the Arab League summit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slammed what he called Israeli violation of international law by building settlements and the repeated attacks on religious houses of worship.
“Since the Oslo Accords, Israel has violated agreements,” Abbas said as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “Once it ceases to violate these agreements, we will also go back to the agreements.”
Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah speaking at the Arab League Summit. (Al Arabiya).
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also addressed the summit.
State television broadcast footage showed Hadi arrival at the summit venue, the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where he was greeted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) greets Yemen's President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi upon his arrival at Sharm al-Sheikh March 27, 2015. (Reuters)
The two-day summit is being held just a few days after a Saudi-led regional coalition launched a military campaign “Operation Decisive Storm” against the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels who have taken control of major cities in the West of Yemen.
Hadi had arrived in Riyadh on Thursday the same day the air strikes were launched.
Several heads of states, including Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir, have already arrived in Egypt and many others are expected to arrive today.
The summit is also expected to focus on creating an Arab military force to fight against extremist militants or their rival Iran, a project foreign ministers have already signed a draft agreement in the Arab League meeting on Thursday.
The ministers called on the leaders of the Arab League’s 22-member nations to meet within a month to lay out the details of the military force such as budgeting.
The chaos in Libya and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will also be on top of this year’s agenda.
[With AFP]
Last Update: Saturday, 28 March 2015 KSA 17:44 - GMT 14:44
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Arab League concluding statement to give support on Yemen
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Sunday, 29 March 2015
The Arab League is expected on Sunday to call for the establishment of a voluntary, unified military force that member states can turn to when facing security challenges, according to a draft statement obtained by Al Arabiya News Channel.
The draft statement, which is expected to be issued on Sunday in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, calls for establishing a voluntary Arab military force that can intervene to counter challenges that threaten the safety and security of any member, based on a specific request from that state.
Iraq, one of the members of the Arab League, voiced reservations to the proposed military force.
The draft statement also urged Houthis to “immediately withdraw from Sanaa, government institutions, and give their weapons to the legitimate authorities.”
On Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition continued for a third day a bombing campaign against the Houthi militias who are marching to the southern city of Aden after seizing the capital Sanaa last year.
According to the draft statement, Arab leaders at the summit in Egypt also backed Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s request to hold a conference in Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Iraq rejected military intervention in any country and called for dialogue as the best solution. Lebanon stressed that any decision taken should prioritize Arab consensus.
The Arab states also expressed their political and financial support to the legitimate government in Libya, and urged for the backing of the national army, according to the draft statement.
They called on the United Nations Security Council to hastily lift an arms embargo on the internationally recognized Libyan government, which they considered as legitimate.
The draft statement also stressed support for the Libyan government in order for it to control its borders with neighboring countries, a decision that Qatar voiced reservations.
Algeria, for its part, considered lifting the weapons embargo and arming the Libyan army as part of the political solution in the country.
Turning to Syria, the draft statement held the Security Council responsible, and urged Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi to continue talks with the U.N. chief to place a course of action that includes a political solution to the Syrian conflict and according to the Geneva communique which stipulates a transitional government in Syria.
Regarding Palestine, the draft statement voiced support for a one year budget starting April, and supported the Palestinian Central Council’s decision to revise political, economic and security relations with Israel in order to place more pressure on Tel Aviv to respect agreements signed.
Last Update: Sunday, 29 March 2015 KSA 01:29 - GMT 22:29
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Reports: One of Saleh’s sons wounded in Yemen
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Sunday, 29 March 2015
One of the sons of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s was wounded on Saturday as Saudi-led coalition forces continued for a third day targeting Houthis in the country, according to reports cited by Al Arabiya News Channel.
It is not known which of Saleh’s two sons - Ahmed and Khaled – was reportedly wounded.
Reports also said that tribes in Shabwa Province, located to the east of the capital Sanaa, had surrounded the former president, without giving further details.
Read Al Arabiya News Channel’s exclusive of how Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh tried reaching out to the Saudis to gain immunity by proposing a coup against the Houthis.
It is not known which of Saleh’s two sons - Ahmed and Khaled – was reportedly wounded.
Reports also said that tribes in Shabwa Province, located to the east of the capital Sanaa, had surrounded the former president, without giving further details.
Read Al Arabiya News Channel’s exclusive of how Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh tried reaching out to the Saudis to gain immunity by proposing a coup against the Houthis.
Last Update: Sunday, 29 March 2015 KSA 00:29 - GMT 21:29
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Iran, powers struggle to reach nuclear deal
By Louis Charbonneau, Parisa Hafezi and John Irish | Reuters, Lausanne
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Saturday, 28 March 2015
The foreign ministers of France and Germany joined the top U.S. and Iranian diplomats on Saturday to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations as major powers and Iran closed in on a 2- or 3-page accord that could form the basis of a long-term deal.
The negotiations, in progress for nearly 18 months, aim to hammer out an accord whereby Iran halts sensitive nuclear work in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, with the ultimate aim of reducing the risk of a war in the Middle East.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have been in Lausanne for days to try to reach a preliminary deal by a self-imposed deadline of March 31, and they held several rounds of talks on Saturday.
As close as they have come to the outline of an agreement, the two sides still have deep disagreements that could wreck a deal.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have been in Lausanne for days to try to reach a preliminary deal by a self-imposed deadline of March 31, and they held several rounds of talks on Saturday.
As close as they have come to the outline of an agreement, the two sides still have deep disagreements that could wreck a deal.
Zarif says the six powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - are now the ones who must compromise.
“In negotiations, both sides must show flexibility,” Zarif said on Twitter. “We have, and are ready to make a good deal for all. We await our counterparts’ readiness.”
Western officials close to the talks said it was up Iran to compromise on the remaining sticking points, which include Tehran’s ambitions for nuclear research and development and the immediate removal of U.N. sanctions.
“The serious but difficult work continues,” a senior U.S. State Department official said. “We expect the pace to intensify as we assess if an understanding is possible.”
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters upon arrival in Lausanne that he hoped for “a robust agreement. Iran has the right to civil nuclear power, but with regard to the atomic bomb, it’s ‘no’.”
“We have moved forward on certain points, but on others not enough,” he said.
Iran denies any ambition to build nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is for purely civilian purposes.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier compared the talks in Lausanne to the final stage of a mountain climb.
“The endgame of the long negotiations has begun,” he said. “And here, with a view of the Swiss mountains, I'm reminded that as one sees the cross on the summit the final meters are the most difficult but also the decisive ones.”
Before taking an afternoon bike ride, Kerry lunched with Fabius and Steinmeier to discuss the remaining obstacles to a deal and again in the afternoon. The two European ministers also met Zarif as Western and Iranian officials familiar with the negotiations cautioned that the talks could still fail.
“The sides are very, very close to the final step and it could be signed or agreed and announced verbally,” a senior Iranian official familiar with the talks told Reuters about the 2- to 3-page document the sides hoped to be able to issue in the event of an agreement.
“In negotiations, both sides must show flexibility,” Zarif said on Twitter. “We have, and are ready to make a good deal for all. We await our counterparts’ readiness.”
Western officials close to the talks said it was up Iran to compromise on the remaining sticking points, which include Tehran’s ambitions for nuclear research and development and the immediate removal of U.N. sanctions.
“The serious but difficult work continues,” a senior U.S. State Department official said. “We expect the pace to intensify as we assess if an understanding is possible.”
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters upon arrival in Lausanne that he hoped for “a robust agreement. Iran has the right to civil nuclear power, but with regard to the atomic bomb, it’s ‘no’.”
“We have moved forward on certain points, but on others not enough,” he said.
Iran denies any ambition to build nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is for purely civilian purposes.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier compared the talks in Lausanne to the final stage of a mountain climb.
“The endgame of the long negotiations has begun,” he said. “And here, with a view of the Swiss mountains, I'm reminded that as one sees the cross on the summit the final meters are the most difficult but also the decisive ones.”
Before taking an afternoon bike ride, Kerry lunched with Fabius and Steinmeier to discuss the remaining obstacles to a deal and again in the afternoon. The two European ministers also met Zarif as Western and Iranian officials familiar with the negotiations cautioned that the talks could still fail.
“The sides are very, very close to the final step and it could be signed or agreed and announced verbally,” a senior Iranian official familiar with the talks told Reuters about the 2- to 3-page document the sides hoped to be able to issue in the event of an agreement.
Talk round the clock
Ahead of meeting Zarif, Kerry said he expected the discussions to run late. Zarif added that the meetings would run through “evening, night, midnight, morning.”
The Russian, Chinese and British foreign ministers were due to arrive on Sunday.
Separately Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Twitter that he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and that the two agreed on the need for a resolution of the nuclear issue.
The Russian, Chinese and British foreign ministers were due to arrive on Sunday.
Separately Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Twitter that he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and that the two agreed on the need for a resolution of the nuclear issue.
Earlier this week Rouhani sent a letter to the heads of state of all six powers, including to U.S. President Barack Obama, with the same message. He also spoke on the phone with five of the six leaders, but not with Obama.
If agreed, the document would cover key numbers for a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the six powers, such as the maximum number and types of uranium enrichment centrifuges Iran could operate, the size of uranium stockpiles it could maintain, the types of atomic research and development it could undertake and also details on the lifting of international sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
Several Iranian officials denied that Iran was close to agreeing an outline document, but a Western diplomat said such comments were aimed at a domestic audience.
“The difficulty is that the Iranians are not moving enough. They like to negotiate right up to the precipice and they’re very good at that,” a Western diplomat said.
One key number is expected to be the duration of the agreement, which officials said would have to be in place for more than 10 years.
The framework accord should be followed by a comprehensive deal by June 30 that includes full technical details.
If agreed, the document would cover key numbers for a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the six powers, such as the maximum number and types of uranium enrichment centrifuges Iran could operate, the size of uranium stockpiles it could maintain, the types of atomic research and development it could undertake and also details on the lifting of international sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
Several Iranian officials denied that Iran was close to agreeing an outline document, but a Western diplomat said such comments were aimed at a domestic audience.
“The difficulty is that the Iranians are not moving enough. They like to negotiate right up to the precipice and they’re very good at that,” a Western diplomat said.
One key number is expected to be the duration of the agreement, which officials said would have to be in place for more than 10 years.
The framework accord should be followed by a comprehensive deal by June 30 that includes full technical details.
Last Update: Saturday, 28 March 2015 KSA 22:51 - GMT 19:51
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Saleh calls for end to ‘Decisive Storm,’ urges Yemen dialogue
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Saturday for an end to the Saudi-led Operation “Decisive Storm” being waged against Houthi militias in Yemen.
In comments addressed to Arab heads of state meeting in Cairo, Saleh called on the coalition to stop “the aggression and return to the negotiating table,” saying the current president, Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, had failed to run the country, Reuters news agency reported.
"Let’s go to dialogue and elections, and I promise you that neither I nor any of my relatives will run for the presidency," he said.
"Air strikes against Yemen have no justification except Hadi’s failure to manage the state. I hope the brothers will not bet on a losing horse."
(With Reuters)
Last Update: Saturday, 28 March 2015 KSA 22:40 - GMT 19:40
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Exclusive: Saleh offered Saudi Arabia anti-Houthi coup for immunity
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Chanel
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Saturday, 28 March 2015
The son of Ali Abdullah Saleh approached Saudi authorities two days before Operation “Decisive Storm” but his proposals were rejected
Two days before Operation “Decisive Storm,” the son of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh approached Saudi authorities offering to turn against the Houthi militia in return for immunity for him and his father, Al Arabiya News Channel has learned.
Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of Ali Abdullah Saleh, initially met in Riyadh Gen. Yousuf Al-Idris, the deputy head of Saudi intelligence, before heading to the office of the country’s defense minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
During the talks, the son requested protection for him and his father and the lifting of U.N. sanctions placed on the former Yemeni president who stepped down in 2012 after ruling for 33 years.
The son had offered in return to launch a coup against the Houthis, using some 5,000 special security forces loyal to Saleh and 100,000 members of the Republican Guards.
But the Saudi reply was a flat out rejection, according to the information.
In the talks, Prince Salman stressed that the kingdom was committed to the Gulf initiative that saw the exit of Saleh from power that was agreed upon by all Yemeni sides.
Prince Salman also stressed that Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi was the legitimate president of Yemen and warned that any maneuvers targeting the temporary capital Aden would be considered a red line.
Saleh, widely believed to be the mastermind behind the unrest in Yemen, is a staunch critic of Hadi.
Last Update: Saturday, 28 March 2015 KSA 22:02 - GMT 19:02
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