DATE=5/15/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-249415
TITLE=SAUDI / KHATAMI (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: IRAN'S PRESIDENT MOHAMMED KHATAMI ARRIVED IN SAUDI ARABIA
(TODAY/SATURDAY) FOR THE FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT BY AN IRANIAN
LEADER IN TWO DECADES. LISA BRYANT REPORTS FROM CAIRO THAT THE
LANDMARK VISIT IS PART OF A REGIONAL TOUR AIMED AT BOOSTING
RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND ITS ARAB NEIGHBORS.
TEXT: PRESIDENT KHATAMI WAS MET AT THE JEDDAH AIRPORT BY SAUDI
CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH, AS HE STARTED A VISIT TO THIS OIL-RICH
COUNTRY. THE STAY IS AIMED AT WARMING UP TIES BETWEEN SAUDI
ARABIA AND IRAN, WHICH HAVE REMAINED FROSTY SINCE THE 1979
IRANIAN REVOLUTION.
DURING HIS STAY, PRESIDENT KHATAMI REPORTEDLY WILL MEET WITH
SAUDI KING FAHD, CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH AND OTHER SENIOR SAUDI
OFFICIALS. HE THEN TRAVELS TO QATAR.
OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER ARAB STATES
HAVE ACCUSED IRAN OF TRYING TO EXPORT RADICAL ISLAM. ONLY SYRIA
SIDED WITH TEHRAN DURING IRAN'S EIGHT-YEAR WAR WITH IRAQ, IN THE
1980S. RELATIONS BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN WERE FURTHER
STRAINED IN 1987, WHEN HUNDREDS OF IRANIANS WERE KILLED BY SAUDI
SECURITY FORCES DURING AN ANTI-WESTERN RALLY IN MECCA.
TIES BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE IMPROVED SINCE PRESIDENT
KHATAMI CAME TO POWER IN 1997. MOST RECENTLY, THE TWO COUNTRIES
REACHED AN AGREEMENT TO CUT OIL PRODUCTION TO HELP BOOST PRICES
FOR OPEC MEMBER STATES.
PRESIDENT KHATAMI FLEW TO JEDDAH FROM SYRIA, WHERE HE MET TWICE
WITH THE COUNTRY'S PRESIDENT, HAFEZ ASSAD. TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO
LEADERS REPORTEDLY TOUCHED ON WAYS TO DEAL WITH WHAT THEY
CONSIDER TO BE ISRAELI THREATS TO THE REGION.
THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT ALSO MET WITH MILITANT PALESTINIAN LEADERS
FRIDAY, DURING WHICH HE REPORTEDLY CRITICIZED THE 1993
PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI PEACE ACCORDS, AND TOLD THEM IRAN BACKED
THEIR OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL.
TEHRAN'S CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THESE MILITANT GROUPS, INCLUDING
HAMAS AND THE ISLAMIC JIHAD, HAS EARNED IRAN THE IRE OF THE
UNITED STATES.
/// OPT /// ON SATURDAY, PRESIDENT KHATAMI OFFERED SIMILAR
ENCOURAGEMENT TO LEADERS OF THE ARMED HEZBOLLA GROUP, WHICH IS
FIGHTING ISRAELI OCCUPATION IN LEBANON. HE REPORTEDLY PRAISED
HEZBOLLA AS, IN HIS WORDS, A HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT THAT WAS
TRYING TO LIBERATE LEBANON. /// END OPT ///
IN A SPEECH FRIDAY, PRESIDENT KHATAMI CALLED ON MUSLIM COUNTRIES
TO SOLVE THEIR OWN DISPUTES, AND NOT RELY ON FOREIGN MILITARY AND
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE. BUT HIS WORDS ARE LIKELY TO BE MET WITH
SKEPTICISM BY SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER GULF COUNTRIES, WHICH DEPEND
HEAVILY ON U-S TROOPS FOR THEIR SECURITY. (SIGNED)
NEB/LB/GE
15-May-99 3:46 PM EDT (1946 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
