RIYADH – Veteran diplomat Prince Turki Al-Faisal on Tuesday blasted the US government for its “reckless” position towards Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The former ambassador to the United States and Britain, speaking at a three-day forum here on relations between the Gulf region and the US, said in a message directed at President-elect Barack Obama: “The Bush administration has left you (with) a disgusting legacy and a reckless position towards the massacres and bloodshed of innocents in Gaza.”
“Enough is enough, today we are all Palestinians and we seek martyrdom for God and for Palestine, following those who died in Gaza,” he said Prince Turki also said that Iran is seen as playing a deconstructive role in the region.
Around 100 delegates, including princes, ministers, academicians, policy-makers, ambassadors and journalists from the Gulf states were present at opening of the Sixth Gulf Forum to discuss the future of US-GCC relations under Obama.
US Ambassador Ford M. Fraker and GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya were also in attendance.
Organized by the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, the forum is sponsored by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and being held in cooperation with the Institute for Diplomatic Studies.
Prince Saud slammed Israeli politicians for “shedding Palestinian blood in what has become a tactic for Israeli parties to settle their election battles.”
In an address read out at the forum by his deputy, Nizar O. Madani, who opened the forum, Prince Saud said peace in the region will not be achieved unless Israel pulls out of the territories it occupies.
He called on Obama to live up to his campaign message of “change”, urging cooperation with the Arab world.
“Together we can reach a peaceful and permanent solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said.
Abdulaziz Al-Saqr, Chairman, Gulf Research Center (GRC), said in his speech that GCC-US relations need to be re-evaluated.
“The post-9/11 anti-terrorism strategy of the US is not achieving its goals – the world has only become increasingly insecure – and, therefore, it should be reconsidered,” he said.
He said the Bush Administration has tarnished America’s image worldwide, including in the Gulf. Refurbishing this image will now require more than public relations campaigns and exchange of ideas, he said. stressing that a positive shift in US strategy on key regional issues is of paramount importance.
Al-Saqr went on to call for more transparency in US relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
GCC states are extremely concerned about the future of Iraq as an Arab state, realizing that a deterioration of the situation in Iraq will have a spillover effect in neighboring countries.
The new US administration should coordinate with the GCC governments regarding any arrangements in Iraq, he said.
Al-Saqr also voiced Gulf concerns about a pullout of US forces from Iraq, which he said would be catastrophic unless non-sectarian and strong Iraqi armed forces and police force are established, real national reconciliation is reached and reconstruction programs are implemented.
Dr. Saad Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ammar, director of the Institute for Diplomatic Studies, said the large participation of American and Gulf scholars, researchers, educators, and journalists indicates the sustained importance of the forum to decision makers in both the United States and the GCC. – With AFP