UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Arabs tell Iran to stop interfering
Pro-American Arab states are squawking that they've apparently had enough of being stigmatized by their Persian neighbor for failing their brothers in Palestine during the Israeli conflict against Hamas in Gaza.
On Tuesday, a group of top Arab officials held a meeting in the United Arab Emirates meant to put an end to Iran’s meddling into what they described as Arab affairs.
After the closed-door meeting of nine foreign ministers, UAE Foreign Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al Nayahan told reporters:
"We are working to get beyond a difficult phase and create an Arab consensus on stopping unwelcome and unconstructive interference in our affairs by non-Arab parties."
The minister was clearly referring to Iran, which is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution these days. Iran is a non-Arab Shiite nation; most of the Middle East is Sunni and Arab.
Relations between the so-called moderate Arab nations and Iran have been sour for a while, even though Tehran and the Persian Gulf states continue to do a lot of business.
But the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip deepened the rift between Arab nations allied with the U.S., mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the Iranian-led camp that supported the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, in its war with Israel.
Although the situation in Gaza has calmed down, disputes continue over the divisions between the two Palestinian leaderships.
On one side, Egyptians and Saudis are voicing their support to the Palestinian Authority represented by the Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki was present at Tuesday's meeting, along with officials from the UAE, Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
On the other side, Iran backs the Palestinian “resistance” spearheaded by Hamas and its leader, Khaled Meshaal, as well as smaller groups like Islamic Jihad.
Meshaal, who is exiled in Damascus, was wrapping up a high-profile visit to Tehran.
Western powers accuse the Islamic Republic of arming Hamas. Iran sidesteps these allegations, insisting that Palestinians deserve to defend themselves against the aggression of Israel, which receives $2.5 billion in American military aid a year.
Participants in Tuesday’s meeting said they were trying to bridge their differences so as to prop up an Arab proposal of peace with Israel. They said their consultations would continue in later conferences.
Underlying the talks is deep worry about how the rhetoric of Iran and Syria is playing on the Arab street, which is outraged by the fact that Iranians and Turks appear more supportive of Palestinians than their own countries.
-- Raed Rafei in Beirut
Photo: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki, left, and Yasser Abed Rabo, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, arrive in Abu Dhabi.
Credit: Marwan Naamani / AFP
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Anytime you get religious zealots in power who think they are implementing Gods desires on Earth, you have catastrophe after catastrophe.
Be it Bush who dreamed about Jesus and God who told him to free Iraqi people, to Ahmadinejad who is working hard to expedite the reappearance of the 12th Shia Imam to rescue humanity, to Olmert and the Jewish establishment, who claim God promised them the occupied Palestinian land thousands of years ago in Torah.
The solution is not to bomb the nuclear sites in Iran, or for that matter in Israel, or the US. The solution is intellectual maturity, religious tolerance, respect for humans, political awareness, fairness,....
Posted by: John Cohen | February 04, 2009 at 06:49 PM
Even our Jewish brothers are more brave than some Arab leaders.
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/02/03/jews_shut_down_israeli_consulate_for_3_hours/
Posted by: Moe | February 04, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Israel sitting on top of several hundred nukes and worrying about Arabs well being and US security while US is a world super power hundred times more powerful than Israel, poor Israelis! checkout their concern for Arabs by looking at this map, how ridicules one can get!
http://www.annainthemiddleeast.com/photos/maps_media/1400/
Posted by: Concern not | February 04, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Poor Arab people, their western puppet government after losing all the battles consistently to foreigners since foreigners carved their lands into weak states during last century, now are telling them not to be proud of their fellow Moslem brothers for bringing some dignity for them.
It's like asking Arab population to forget about Saladin which forced Crusaders out of their land, but since he was not Arab, Moslem people should discard him.
Islam was founded as one religion for all races equally for her followers and through out Islam history the most competent part of Moslem lands by default carried the mantle of leadership, today it happens to be Iran and Turkey and in future maybe Malaysia or Kenya for that matter.
Moslem community by virtue of sitting on top of world energy resources should be sole superpower by now, but because of foreign installed rulers, they're being ripped off and kept humiliated while East and West burning their oil to enrich their economy while waging ongoing conflicts alive in region to keep Moslem communities in dark ages.
Arab people should ask themselves and their government, are we Moslem first and foremost, or Arab? If we are Moslem first then why not let your Moslem brothers help us when they are in position to do so. If we are Arab first, then aren't we being racist much like foreigners by excluding majority of Moslems from being included in Moslem affairs and also limit our options in regards with occupying foreign powers?
Posted by: Joe | February 04, 2009 at 04:49 PM
Thank god there are some reasonable Arabs. I hope the world can understand how dangerous Iran is after successfully launching a satellite into space. The bottom line is that they are now capable of delivering a missle into Tel Aviv or Manhattan and once they aquire nuclear weapons they will be able to achieve their dream of vaporing Israel. When are we going to move against Iran's 3 nuclear sites? Do we have to wait for the Israelis to do it? A military attack on Iran is the only option. Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
Posted by: Mark Montgomery | February 04, 2009 at 10:54 AM