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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (23258)	9/28/2007 1:29:00 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217901

Anti-Iran camp is only US and Europe: six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday reiterated its stance on reaching a negotiated settlement to the standoff between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program and opposed plans to impose sanctions on Tehran. “GCC states don’t want to see any brotherly or friendly country subjected to sanctions,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, secretary-general of the group, in reference to Iran. “The GCC wants a peaceful dialogue to resolve all the problems liable to affect international security and stability.” GCC Against Iran Sanctions: Attiyah P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News JEDDAH, 19 September 2007 — The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday reiterated its stance on reaching a negotiated settlement to the standoff between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program and opposed plans to impose sanctions on Tehran. “GCC states don’t want to see any brotherly or friendly country subjected to sanctions,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, secretary-general of the group, in reference to Iran. “The GCC wants a peaceful dialogue to resolve all the problems liable to affect international security and stability.” He said the GCC was studying prospects of signing a free-trade agreement with Iran. “The last foreign ministers’ meeting in Riyadh asked a committee comprising economy and trade ministers to discuss the Iranian proposal on setting up a free-trade zone,” he added. Asked whether the current explosive situation in the region would be a suitable time for such negotiations, Attiyah said: “Any effort that benefits joint interests and increases inter-dependence will naturally strengthen the political atmosphere and facilitate mutual understanding to find viable solutions to regional issues.” The GCC chief also spoke about the upcoming Middle East peace conference called by US President George W. Bush and said it should deal with the core issues of the Palestinian state, ending Jewish settlement in occupied Arab territories, Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees. “The conference should not be aimed at linking movement in the Middle East peace process to developments in Iraq in a bid to attract Arab states to a conference whose real goal is to help (the US) get out of the Iraqi impasse,” he said. Attiyah said GCC foreign ministers would discuss the Middle East conference and other political and economic issues with their counterparts in the United States, Russia, China, the European Union, Japan and other countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal hinted last week that Saudi Arabia might skip the international conference, scheduled for November, if the meeting is not comprehensive and does not tackle core issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. “GCC states welcome any attempt to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue and settle the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Attiyah said, adding that all parties involved must be invited to attend the conference and the discussions should be based on the Arab peace plan. Attiyah’s statement came as Russia expressed alarm over comments by France’s foreign minister raising the specter of war with Iran, and Washington said diplomacy was key to ending a standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program. Minister Bernard Kouchner, his comments clearly testing the resilience of a coalition of major powers seeking to curb Iran’s ambitions, sought to play down his weekend remarks, saying they had been meant as a warning against war. “I do not want it to be said that I am a warmonger!” he told Le Monde newspaper, days before the five UN Security Council permanent members, including Russia and China, and Germany were due to meet to discuss possible new sanctions against Tehran. “My message was a message of peace, of seriousness and of determination,” the paper quoted Kouchner as saying on his plane as he headed to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear at a joint news briefing with Kouchner that his remarks had disturbed a Kremlin, like China, less inclined to sanctions than the West. “We are worried by reports that there is serious consideration being given to military action in Iran,” Lavrov said. “That is a threat to a region where there are already grave problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Washington made clear it had no interest in military embroilment at this stage. At the same time, it seemed at pains to dismiss suggestions of disunity among the powers. “We believe that there is a diplomatic solution,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “We are working with the French and the rest of the EU community in order to pressure Iran to comply with their obligations under the UN Security Council regulations.” — Additional input from agencies