Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 15, 2007

RIYADH: Iran's nuclear programme has added one more crisis to the region that needs to be contained, along with the sectarian conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon, King Abdullah said yesterday.  Saudi Arabia is also seeking to ensure "fair" oil prices and increase its oil production capacity so that it can meet its domestic and international commitments. In his annual address to the unelected Consultative Council, the closest thing Saudi Arabia has to a parliament, the king also called for national unity and pledged to continue the fight against terrorism until the militants either "come to their senses or are uprooted from Saudi society". Abdullah's speech came amid Arab fears that the sectarian turmoil in Iraq, tension in Lebanon and Iran's contentious nuclear programme could lead to chaos that would engulf the whole region.

Riyadh has embarked on an aggressive push to resolve the crises, sending envoys to Iran, talking to Shiite and Sunni Iraqis and urging Lebanon's feuding leaders to sit together and talk. The rising profile of Shiite-majority Iran worries Saudi Arabia, which is ringed by Shiite communities in Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. Some analysts fear that if attacked, Iran would retaliate against US interests in the region - and Saudi Arabia's oil installations across the Gulf are the biggest and most important. The kingdom is the world's largest oil producer and any disruption in its exports would seriously affect supplies to the United States and cause prices to soar. 

Without naming Iran, Abdullah said Saudi diplomacy had been careful to deal with the "nuclear issue in a peaceful, rational and objective manner that seeks to avoid tense rhetoric and aims at guaranteeing that the Gulf and the Middle East are free of weapons of mass destruction". "The issue of the nuclear crisis in the region has created a new burden in the region, adding to its consecutive crises," said the king. 

Abdullah said regional instability and confusion demands that "we double Saudi diplomatic efforts regionally and internationally." "It's the kingdom's duty ... to seek, before anyone else, to play an effective role ... to defend the (Arab world's) issues, safeguard its interests and confront the dangers of strife, divisions and conflict that threaten it, foremost of which is the rising strife between Islamic sects, especially Shiites and Sunnis," said the king, reaffirming the more vigorous foreign policy he has pursued since coming to power in August 2005.

Abdullah said the Palestinian crisis remains the Arab world's main conflict, he expressed pain over the violence in Iraq and he urged Somalia's warring factions to meet - in Saudi Arabia if they wished - to resolve their feud. On the issue of oil, the king said the kingdom "is aware of its international responsibilities and is working to create fair prices to this resource that take into consideration the interests of the producer and the consumer". "The kingdom is also seeking to increase its oil production capacity so that it can meet its commitments for national growth and the demands of the international economies, added the king," he added.  The kingdom's current capacity is just above 11 million barrels a day.

Domestically, the king said one of Saudi Arabia's challenges is preserving national unity. He appeared to be referring to the scathing verbal attacks by some Sunni clerics against the region's Shiites, which provoked harsh responses from Shiites and appeals to the government from the kingdom's Shiite minority. "I hope that national unity will have a prominent place in the council's deliberations and in the mind of every one of you," the king told the 150, all-male members of the Consultative Council.

Abdullah listed several projects that will be introduced in the coming year: plans to revamp the educational system, develop the judiciary, fight unemployment and establish an agency to fight corruption. The Majlis Al-Shura, or Consultative Council, was expanded and given more powers in 1992 as a gesture toward forming a legislature. It has the power to propose new laws for the government's approval. Its members are chosen by the king and advise him. Women are not eligible.

The king is required by law to deliver a speech to the council every year to outline the kingdom's domestic and foreign policies. In his first speech as king last year, Abdullah focused on the need for reform, fighting extremism and terrorism and improving economic performance. As part of his reform drive, Abdullah on Friday appointed Princess Al-Jowhara bint Fahd ibn Muhammad as head of the Women's University in Riyadh, the first woman ever to be given such a senior post. - AP