RIYADH: U.S. President Donald Trump held talks Sunday with leaders of the oil-rich Gulf monarchies, a day after Washington told their archrival Iran to dismantle its “network of terrorism.”
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council posed for a photo with Trump before they walked into their meeting. In the meeting, GCC leaders and Trump agreed on a memorandum of understanding to establish a center to combat the financing of terrorism, Saudi official news agency SPA reported.
The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are traditional U.S. allies.
Most GCC monarchies accuse Tehran of meddling in their internal affairs and want Washington to be tougher with Iran, which secured a landmark nuclear deal with world powers when Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama was in office.
They consider Tehran to be a destabilizing factor in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Saturday demonstrated a tougher position on Tehran, saying multibillion-dollar defense deals signed with Riyadh aim to protect Saudi Arabia from a “malign Iranian influence.”
In a joint news conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir, Tillerson urged newly re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to dismantle his country’s “network of terrorism” and end “ballistic missile testing.”
Later in the day, Trump said he hoped to visit Cairo soon, praising President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi after a meeting in Riyadh and declaring that “safety seems to be very strong” in Egypt.
Speaking through a translator, Sisi described Trump as “a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible.”
Trump said he was having “very, very important talks” with Sisi.
“We’ve really been through a lot together positively,” Trump said.
“I will get to Egypt. We will absolutely be putting that on the list very soon,” he said.
Sisi had “done a tremendous job under trying circumstance.”
Sisi has launched the toughest crackdown on Islamists in Egypt’s modern history since toppling President Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed fighting militants in Sinai.
The two leaders called for closer cooperation on a range of issues, particularly on combating militant extremism, with Trump praising Sisi’s efforts on “fighting terrorism,” according to a statement from Sisi’s office.
Sisi has tried to present himself as a bulwark against militant extremism but has come under attack from rights groups who say his time in power has seen the worst crackdown in their history. Last month, Egypt declared a three-month state of emergency after two church bombings claimed by Daesh (ISIS) killed more than 45 people.
Sisi went to Washington last month for talks with Trump intended to improve relations that had been strained under President Barack Obama. Egypt is one of Washington’s closest allies in the Middle East, receiving $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid annually.
Trump thanked Sisi for his help with the release of Egyptian-American charity worker Aya Hijazi last month. Trump and his aides had engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to gain her freedom after attempts by the previous Obama administration failed.
Separately, Trump said Sunday Washington’s relations with Bahrain were set to improve, after meeting with the king of the Gulf Arab state.
“Our countries have a wonderful relationship together, but there has been a little strain, but there won’t be strain with this administration,” Trump said during a photo session with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa in Riyadh. “We’re going to have a very, very long-term relationship. I look forward to it very much – many of the same things in common.”
Trump’s White House decided this year to pursue a $5 billion sale to Bahrain of 19 Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft and related equipment, which was held up last year by human rights concerns.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Reuters last month that Trump better understood the threat to the United States’ Gulf Arab allies from Tehran than his predecessor Barack Obama.
Trump rails against Iran and Hezbollah
RIYADH/BEIRUT: President Donald Trump urged Arab and Islamic leaders Sunday to unite and do their share to defeat Islamist extremists, and condemned Iran and Hezbollah for the destabilizing effect they have on the region.
Trump’s address Sunday was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first stop overseas as president, and he used the occasion to cast Iran and Hezbollah as sponsors of terror, along with Daesh (ISIS), Al-Qaeda, the Houthis and the Hamas Movement.
“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.
“For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror.”
Introducing Trump, Saudi King Salman described their mutual foe Iran as the source of terrorism they must confront together.
“Our responsibility before God and our people and the whole world is to stand united to fight the forces of evil and extremism wherever they are. ... The Iranian regime represents the tip of the spear of global terrorism,” the king said.
“These odious acts are attempts to exploit Islam as a cover for political purposes to flame hatred, extremism, terrorism, and conflicts ... such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, Daesh, Al-Qaeda, and many others,” Salman said.
The U.S. president made no secret of his contempt for Hezbollah, applauding the Gulf Cooperation Council for designating the party as a terrorist organization last year and pointing to sanctions Washington and Riyadh placed on its top officials this week.
Trump did, however, have kind words to say about the Lebanese Army, which he singled out as making a significant contribution to regional security and hunting down Daesh operatives.
He also applauded Lebanon, alongside Jordan and Turkey, for its role in hosting Syrian refugees.
Yet the overreaching theme of Trump’s speech was the Middle East’s battle with what he called the “crisis of Islamic extremism.”
During a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders – including Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri – he sought to chart a new course for America’s role in the region, one aimed squarely on 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 room that featured 11 chandeliers and six giant video screens. “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 pledged to work alongside Middle Eastern nations, he put the onus for combatting 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.” The president has been enthusiastically embraced in Riyadh, where the ruling royal family has welcomed his tougher stance on Iran, its regional foe.
Trump slammed Iran for spreading “destruction and chaos” throughout the region, repeatedly castigating the nation – which had re-elected its moderate president the day before – as a breeding ground and financier for terror.
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 repeatedly slammed former President Barack Obama for refusing to use the term “radical Islamic extremism.”
Yet Trump himself backed away from the term Sunday as he stood before the region’s leaders.
He condemned “Islamists” and “Islamic terror of all kinds,” but never specifically referred to radical Islam. He largely kept his voice in check, reading carefully from the teleprompter as he addressed the crowd, which remained quiet during his delivery. And when he concluded, the American delegation rose to give him a standing ovation – but the rest of the hall did not.
Sunday, Trump was full of praise for Muslim world’s history and culture. He declared Islam “one of the world’s great faiths.” And he praised the Middle East’s potential even as he underlined his own vision of a United States with tighter borders, saying “this region should not be a place from which refuges flee but to where newcomers flock.”
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.
Obama called for understanding and acknowledged some of America’s missteps in the region. That speech was denounced by many Republicans and criticized by a number of the United States’ Middle East allies as being a sort of apology.
Trump said nothing that could be interpreted as an apology. Instead, he seethed at the terrorists who called the region home, though he offered no solutions to prevent radicalization or entertained any discussion of the sources of disaffection for young Muslims that have led them to turn to violence.
“Terrorists do not worship God. They worship death,” he said. “If you choose he path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief and your soul will be full condemned.”
Trump’s speech came amid a renewed courtship of the United States’ Arab allies. Trump held individual meetings with leaders of several nations, including Egypt and Qatar, before participating in a roundtable with the Gulf Cooperation Council and joining Saudi King Salman in opening Riyadh’s new anti-terrorism center.
On the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic-American Summit Hariri held backstage talks with Arab and American officials.
Hariri met with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, a statement by Hariri’s media office said.
The PM also held talks with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on the sidelines of the summit upon his arrival.
From Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu Sunday instructed all his Cabinet ministers to attend the official greeting for President Donald Trump, after some of them planned on skipping the event.
The move was the latest in a series of last-minute schedule changes to a presidential visit far different from the meticulously planned operations of the past.
Trump’s arrival was initially planned to include speeches and greetings with a long list of dignitaries on the tarmac of Israel’s international airport. Later, the White House asked for a brief ceremony to avoid the heat. As a result, most ministers were planning to skip the event.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that Netanyahu fumed at his ministers and ordered them all to attend Monday’s ceremony.
Netanyahu is eager to make a good impression on Trump during the president’s first trip abroad.
Trump will also have an audience with Pope Francis, meet with NATO partners in Brussels and attend the Group of 7 wealthy nations summit in Sicily.
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