Gulf | Saudi Arabia

Iran crisis 'need to be contained'

King Abdullah vows to continue fight against terror and redouble efforts to solve region's issues.

  • AP & Reuters
  • Published: 00:00 April 15, 2007
  • Gulf News

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.

In his annual address to the unelected Consultative Council, the king pledged to continue the fight against terrorism until the militants either "come to their senses or are uprooted from Saudi society."

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.

Main conflict

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.

The king is required by law to deliver a speech to the council every year to outline the kingdom's domestic and foreign policies.

Stability: Sectarian conflicts 'could hit unity'

King Abdullah warned yesterday that stoking sectarian differences could threaten the kingdom's unity and security.

"The stirring up of sectarian conflicts ... and the superiority of one part of society over another contradict Islam, and pose a threat to national unity and to the security of society and state," King Abdullah told the opening session of the kingdom's Shura (consultative) council.

"The challenge that faces us is to protect this national unity and to strengthen it," he said.

- Reuters

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