Trump calls for international isolation of Iran
Riyadh: US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Muslim countries to deny sanctuary to extremists and called for international isolation of Iran, which he accused of fuelling “sectarian conflict and terror”.
“From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region,” Trump said in a major speech in Saudi Arabia.
“Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate it ... and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve.”
Trump denounced Iranian aggression in the region, and said that the “longest-suffering victims” are the Iranian people.
He says the Iranian people have “endured hardship and despair under their leaders’ reckless pursuit of conflict and terror.”
Trump, visiting the kingdom at the start of his first foreign tour since taking office, told dozens of Muslim leaders invited to Riyadh for a special summit that he brought “a message of friendship and hope and love”.
Pact with Gulf countries
He appealed to Muslim nations to ensure that “terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil” and announced an agreement with Gulf countries to fight financing for extremists.
He said Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations “have born the brunt of the killings and the worst of destruction in this wave of fanatical violence”.
Trump cast the fight against terrorism as a “battle between good and evil,” not a clash between the West and Islam.
Trump’s address on Sunday was the centrepiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first stop overseas as president. During a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders, he sought to chart a new course for America’s role in the region, one aimed squarely at rooting out terrorism, with less focus on promoting human rights and democratic reforms.
“We are not here to lecture — we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship,” Trump said, speaking in an ornate, multi-chandeliered room. “Instead, we are here to offer partnership — based on shared interests and values — to pursue a better future for us all.”
Even as the president pledg-ed to work alongside Middle Eastern nations, he put the onus for combating terrorism on the region. Bellowing into the microphone, he implored Muslim leaders to aggressively fight extremists: “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities.”
Sitting alongside Trump, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz declared, “The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of global terrorism.”
Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia also served as something of a reset with the region following his presidential campaign, which was frequently punctured by bouts of anti-Islamic rhetoric. He once mused that he thought “Islam hates us.”
And only a week after taking office, he signed an executive order to ban immigrants from seven countries — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen — from entering the United States, a decision that sparked widespread protests at the nation’s airports and demonstrations outside the White House.
But on Sunday, Trump was full of praise for Muslim world’s history and culture. He declared Islam “one of the world’s great faiths.”
White House officials said they considered Trump’s address to be a counterweight to President Barack Obama’s debut speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in Cairo.
As it happened:
7.34pm
'Isolate Iran'
US President Donald Trump on Sunday called on all countries to work together to isolate Iran, accusing it of of fuelling "the fires of sectarian conflict and terror".
"Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate it," he said.
7.15pm
Assad, Iran slammed
Trump said Syria's Assad has committed "unspeakable crimes" with Iran's support.
7.00pm
'95 per cent of terror victims are Muslims'
President Donald Trump said that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorist attacks are the "innocent people of the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations".
Trump said that "95 per cent of the victims of terrorist attacks are themselves Muslims".
He said that terrorism must not only be measured by the number of dead, but the number of "vanished dreams".
Trump said the US seeks a "coalition of nations" in the Middle East with the aim of "stamping out extremism".
He promised "that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit cooperation and trust".
6.55pm
"If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and your soul will be fully condemned."
"Heroes don’t kill innocents, they save them."
6.52pm
"We must cut off the financial channels that let Isis [Daesh] sell oil, let extremists pay their fighters..."
6.41pm
"Emirati troops are supporting our Afghan partners and supporting them strongly."
6.47pm
“Terrorists do not worship God, they worship death. If we do not act against this organised terror, then we know what will happen and what will be the end result.
"Terrorism’s devastation of life will continue to spread, peaceful societies will become engulfed by violence, and the futures of many generations will be sadly squandered if we do not stand in uniform condemnation of this killing.”
6.44pm
"The UAE has reached incredible heights."
6.43pm
"This region should not be a place from which refugees flee, but a place to which newcomers flock."
6.41pm
'Grow up free from fear'
“Young Muslim boys and girls should be able to grow up free from fear, safe from violence and innocent of hatred. Young Muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves, it has to be done, and we have to let them do it.”
6.31pm
Speech starts
Trump: "Words do not do justice to the grandeur of this remarkable place, and the incredible hospitality you have shown us from the moment we arrived. You also hosted me in the treasured home of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of the kingdom, who united your great people."
6.24pm
King Salman addresses the summit
Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz on Sunday accused regional rival Iran of exporting extremist Islamic movements to the world and vowed to eliminate Daesh.
"The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of global terrorism since the (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini revolution" in 1979, King Salman said in a speech to leaders including US President Donald Trump.
"We did not know terrorism and extremism until the Khomeini revolution reared its head," he said.
Saudi Arabia was also determined to "eliminate the Islamic State group [Daesh]", the king said.
5.57pm
Attendees are waiting for the speech to start.
3.43pm
What Trump will say
US President Donald Trump is expected to portray fighting terrorism as a battle between good and evil rather than a clash of civilisations.
"This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it," Trump will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House.
"That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians," he will say.
2.12pm
Melania Trump visits school in Riyadh
First lady Melania Trump paid a visit to the American International School in Riyadh on Sunday while her husband held a series of bilateral meetings with Arab leaders.
The first lady delivered Dr. Seuss books to a pre-school classroom, spoke to sixth graders on a soccer field and clapped along to a rendition of "Lean on me" in the school's library.
She was joined by the Saudi education minister.
It's the first lady's first visit to the country and her first experience representing the U.S. on a foreign stage.
1.23pm
Trump joins with leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council
President Donald Trump is joining with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council in an effort to counter the financing of terrorism.
White House adviser Dina Powell tells reporters that a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and GCC nations represents the "farthest reaching commitment" to not finance terrorist organisations.
She says it includes a pledge to prosecute the financing of terrorism, including individuals.
Along with the U.S., the participants include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
12:54pm
Trump joins traditional dancers during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace in Riyadh
12:14pm
Trump announces plans to visit Egypt soon
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would visit Egypt soon during talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the Saudi capital.
"We will absolutely be putting that on the list very soon," Trump said at the beginning of bilateral talks with Sisi, which came hours before the US president is scheduled to address an Arab Islamic American summit.
12.01
Trump meets with King of Bahrain
President Donald Trump is beginning his day of meetings with Arab leaders with the King of Bahrain.
Trump says the two countries "have a wonderful relationship" but "there has been a little strain."
He vowed Sunday to improve things further. Trump did not specify what tension he needed to resolve. The two countries have had a long-term military alliance though the U.S. Was critical of Bahrain's response to uprisings during the Arab Spring.
11.44pm
Trump to meet with Arab leaders
President Donald Trump is kicking off the second day of his first foreign trip abroad with a series of bilateral and group meetings with foreign leaders.
Trump will meet with leaders from Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, and other countries before delivering a speech on fighting extremism.
9.22pm
Trump to give speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh: US President Donald Trump is using the nation that is home to Islam’s holiest site as a backdrop to call for unity across the Muslim world in the fight against terrorism.
In Trump’s Sunday speech, which is the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, he will address 50 Muslim and Arab leaders.
Though Trump's campaign was marked by harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric, he is planning to preach religious tolerance here, inviting the Arab world to join the United States in combating terrorism and evil in the region.
Trump travels to Israel and Occupied Jerusalem on Monday and on Tuesday respectively; and then to the Vatican and to Brussels and Italy for Nato and G7 meetings.
