Leaders condemn Iran interference – Probe gas attack

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PUTIN PROPOSES WORKING WITH LEAGUE ON REGIONAL SECURITY

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on April 16, shows Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (center right), Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (center left), Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi (right), followed by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa (third right, behind), arriving to attend the closing ceremony of the ‘Gulf Shield 1’ military drills in the eastern Saudi Arabian region of Dhahran, on the sidelines of the 29th Arab League summit. (AFP)

DHAHRAN, April 16, (RTRS): An Arab League summit called on Sunday for an international probe into the “criminal” use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what it saw as Iran’s interference in the affairs of other countries. Saudi Arabia and Iran have for decades been locked in a struggle for regional supremacy that is now being played out in proxy wars in several countries, including Yemen and Syria.

“We stress our absolute condemnation of the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people and we demand an independent international investigation to guarantee the application of international law against anyone proven to have used chemical weapons,” said a statement distributed to journalists. It emphasized the need for a political solution to the multisided Syrian war.

Support
Saudi Arabia and its allies have expressed support for Saturday’s missile strikes by the United States, Britain and France against alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria, while Iraq and Lebanon condemned the strikes. Damascus denies using or possessing chemical weapons and called the strikes an act of aggression. Military help over the past three years from Russia and Iran, which also backs Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Shi’ite Muslim militias in Iraq, has allowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to crush the rebel threat to topple him. The communique called for more international sanctions on Iran and urged it to withdraw “its militias” from Syria and Yemen.

“The summit condemned Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries, either through igniting sectarian strife or planting militias in Arab countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and harboring al-Qaeda terrorists,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference. Iran, which denies the accusations, rejected the condemnation as the result of Saudi pressure. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed cooperating with the Arab League on regional security, specifically in Iraq and Syria following the defeat of Islamic State militants there, according to Russian news agencies.

“The heavy shadow of destructive Saudi policies is evident in … the final statement of the summit,” Iranian state media quoted Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying in Tehran. Saudi Arabia, which takes over the rotating chair of the Arab summit from Jordan, announced that this gathering would be named the “Quds (Jerusalem) Summit”, a reference to US President Donald Trump’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which Arab states condemned.

Pledged
Delegates pledged to support the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. King Salman said Saudi Arabia was donating $200 million to help them, including $50 million for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Qatar did not send a senior official, a sign that its 10-month-old dispute with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt is still a long way from being resolved. The four countries severed diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty.

Its delegation was headed by its permanent representative to the Arab League, Saif bin Muqaddam al- Buainain, Qatar’s state news agency said. Most of the 22 other countries sent heads of state or government. Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- Thani headed Qatar’s delegation at last year’s summit in Jordan. Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha on Saturday from a US trip where he met Trump. Trump publicly sided with the Saudis and Emiratis early in the crisis but is now pushing for a resolution to restore Gulf Arab unity and maintain a united front against Iran. Asked why Qatar was not on the summit’s agenda, the Saudi foreign minister said: “Because Qatar is not on the agenda. It’s not a big issue. It’s not a big problem. It’s a very, very small problem.”

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