Shaikh Mohammed asks to end sanctions on Iran
Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)
Sanctions on Iran should be lifted and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad should be ousted. These were some of the observations made by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC. … He recounted a conversation with former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the subject: “I talked to Ahmadinejad and he said, ‘If I send a rocket to Israel, how many Palestinians will I kill! And then the US and Europe will destroy my cities. I’m not crazy to go for that. It’s a weapon of the past.’” Shaikh Mohammed said sanctions on Iran should be lifted now as there was an agreement to inspect the country’s nuclear sites. Regarding the civil war in Syria, he said the UAE was not following countries like Qatar that were intervening because it was unclear whether some of the rebels were extremists.
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KSA condemns new Israeli settlement plan
Source: Arab News (Read full story)
The Council of Ministers, chaired by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, has denounced the Israeli plan to construct 1,400 new housing units in the West Bank and said it would destroy the entire peace process. “Any (Middle East) peace process should lead to a comprehensive and just settlement enabling the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said the Cabinet. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal briefed the meeting on his visit to Pakistan and talks with its leaders that reflected the close historical ties between the two countries, their cooperation in many areas, and continuing coordination on regional and international issues.
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Bahrain national dialogue not called off: Minister
Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)
Bahrain has clarified that the national dialogue has only been suspended and not called off, adding the process will remain open until participants decide to come back.
Minister of State for Information Affairs and the Government’s official spokesperson Sameera Ibrahim bin Rajab said after the cabinet meeting on Sunday: “While the dialogue has been suspended, neither the government nor the parties to the dialogue have given up hope. The government has made it fully clear that the doors to a negotiated settlement are very much open.”
All parties have welcomed the dialogue. There are differences of opinion that need to be ironed out, but that is not the end of the road, she emphasised. A negotiated settlement is in the interest of Bahrain, she affirmed.
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Zarif’s regional tour all about Syria
Source: Al-Monitor (Read full story)
The “smile diplomacy” that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif launched in the Middle East took him on Jan. 12 to Lebanon, the first stop on a regional tour that will also include visits to Jordan and Iraq. According to Al-Monitor’s sources in Tehran, there is also a possibility Zarif will pay a visit to war-torn Syria … It is almost certain that Iran will not take part in the forthcoming Geneva II talks on Syria, but that does not mean that it is stuck on the sidelines. An Iranian source informed Al-Monitor on Tehran’s thinking, asserting, “Whoever is meeting in Geneva knows that Iran is vital for any solution in Syria.” He added, “These countries need our efforts, and we are genuinely keen to do our part to make sure this conference reaches a happy ending. Part of these efforts is this regional tour.”
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Jeddah Islamic Port sees heavy container traffic
Source: Arab News (Read full story)
The Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) has marked 2013 with a heavy container traffic. The port handled 4.68 million tons of incoming and outgoing containers with 60.38 million tons of goods during 2013, according to an official of Saudi Ports Authority. Sahir Tahlawi, director general of the JIP, said the volume of foodstuffs handled stood at 12.68 million tons, construction materials reached about 10.22 million tons and barley imports hit 3.8 million tons. He stated that the handling process of various goods for import and export was carried out by ships of various types and sizes at the port. Referring to other issues, he said the refloating of the floating aquarium No. 1 in JIP, which sank in the sea earlier, took 15 days. The basin is 230-meter long and 45-meter wide.
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Violence in Yemen overshadows National Dialogue
Source: Al-Monitor (Read full story)
Yemen’s new year kicked off while heavy sectarian battles were taking place in the northern part of the country, violence was escalating in the south, and, most important, a humanitarian situation was escalating around the country. Not long ago, Yemenis woke up to one of the most horrifying massacres in their lives when al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants attacked a hospital inside the Defense Ministry, killing more than 50 people and injuring more than 100, mostly civilians.
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