PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
15 January 2008
Bush Promotes Mideast Peace Plan, Security in Gulf
Arab states urged to build on momentum of Annapolis Conference
Washington -- In meetings with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, President Bush underlined the U.S. commitment to helping Palestinian and Israeli leaders realize their goal of a peace settlement and a Palestinian state by the end of 2008 and urged regional leaders to continue their support.
“They want to see a deal done. They want progress because the issue frustrates them. This issue is kind of the touchstone in their mind for a lot of other problems in the Middle East; you solve this, then a lot of other problems go away," Bush said January 15 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bush praised the Saudi king’s decision to send his foreign minister and thanked Gulf leaders for their active support at the 2007 Annapolis Conference, which he said sent a powerful message for peace to Palestinians, Israelis and the wider region. (See related article.)
In a private audience with King Abdullah, and with leaders in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates during his eight-day mission to the Middle East, Bush said that he has shared his personal observations on the peace process and how the United States intends to support the Israeli-Palestinian talks. Bush urged the leaders to keep up to momentum toward peace.
“In order for this to work, they've got to be supportive of the Palestinians, and make it clear that Israel is an important part of the future of the Middle East,” Bush said.
RICE VISITS BAGHDAD
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, accompanying Bush on his consultations, made an unannounced visit to Iraq January 15 following a January 12 vote by the Iraqi parliament to allow some former members of the Baath Party to return to government jobs -- one of 18 indicators, or benchmarks, defined by Iraqi authorities to measure political progress.
“From the time that I was here a month ago, I've seen ... continued progress on the political front,” Rice said at a briefing with her Iraqi counterpart, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
Rice urged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government to take advantage of improving security and political conditions to continue pushing for additional reforms, including legislation on holding provincial elections as well as a key law on sharing the country's oil and gas resources among its different ethnic and religious groups.
“These improvements do show that Iraqis can count on a future with this democracy, a future in which violence is not necessarily a daily way of life, but it's going to take a really large effort by these political leaders to push forward,” Rice said.
NEW SECURITY ASSISTANCE ANNOUNCED
Security challenges from Iran also were on the president’s regional agenda, and Bush further demonstrated U.S. commitment to helping Saudi Arabia and its neighbors with a January 15 announcement that the United States intends to provide Riyadh with 900 state-of-the art satellite-guided missiles, among the most sophisticated weapons systems produced by the United States, as part of a $20 billion security package for six Gulf nations.
“The United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf -- and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late,” Bush said January 13 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Under U.S. law, Congress has 30 days to disapprove of the $123 million missile sale, but key members of Congress already have expressed support for the plan, giving the administration confidence that it will be approved.
Bush will complete his visit to the region with meetings in Egypt before returning to Washington January 16.
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