Gates stresses strength of US-Saudi ties
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2 hours ago
RIYADH (AFP) — US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stressed the strength of ties with Saudi Arabia on a visit Wednesday designed to quell fears that Washington is moving closer to Riyadh's regional rival Iran.
"The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has been one of the mainstays of stability in the Middle East for more than 60 years," Gates said at the Eskan Village military base outside the Saudi capital.
"Saudi Arabia continues to be an important partner for the US in counter-terrorism and a range of other issues."
Gates was speaking to US military personnel and civilian advisors to Saudi security forces on the final day of a two-day trip to the country, the world's leading oil exporter and a key US ally in the region.
On Tuesday he met with senior Saudi officials on the second stop of a regional trip partly aimed at assuaging worries that Washington was preparing a "grand bargain" with Tehran that would move it away from Arab powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Gates said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Tuesday that Washington would proceed carefully and that no deal was imminent.
There were "some exaggerated concerns, some notion here in the region that there might be some grand bargain between the United States and Iran that would suddenly be sprung on them," he told reporters in Cairo.
Such concerns were "completely unrealistic," Gates said, pledging that Washington would consult closely with its allies and no deal would be hatched in secret.
"We will keep our friends informed about what is going so that nobody gets surprised," he said.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have quietly expressed serious concerns about US engagement with Iran, whom they see as the most serious regional threat to stability.
"Uppermost in our minds is taking measures necessary with our partners in the region, to maintain their security and their stability in particular against Iranian subversive activities," Gates said Tuesday.
US military officials at the Eskan base emphasized the role of some 800 US military and civilian personnel in helping train and equip Saudi security forces, including a new 35,000 strong interior ministry force to guard critical infrastructure like oil and gas production facilities.
"Although you do not work in a direct combat role, your mission remains essential to America's seucirty," Gates told them.
Gates meanwhile said he discussed with Saudi officials the possibility of Saudi Arabia taking responsibility for some of the around 100 Yemeni detainees still at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Gates said he and Saudi Assistant Interior Minister for Security Prince Mohammed bin Nayef discussed the idea of placing the Yemenis into the successful Saudi terrorist rehabilitation programme.
"I did raise with (Nayef) our positive impressions of the rehabilitation-repatriation programme in Saudi Arabia," Gates told reporters.
Gates said no specific request was made by the United States, which is reluctant to release the Yemeni detainees back to their own country for fear they would quickly rejoin militant groups.
"It was more a general conversation about the capability and the possibility," Gates said.
He praised the Saudi programme, which claims a 90 percent success rate, with only about a dozen of the former Guantanamo prisoners returning to militant or criminal activities.
"I think they have done as good or better a job of that than anybody," he said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLsDlQob0PxiRJTBYWAYLREZJ2gw
2 hours ago
RIYADH (AFP) — US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stressed the strength of ties with Saudi Arabia on a visit Wednesday designed to quell fears that Washington is moving closer to Riyadh's regional rival Iran.
"The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has been one of the mainstays of stability in the Middle East for more than 60 years," Gates said at the Eskan Village military base outside the Saudi capital.
"Saudi Arabia continues to be an important partner for the US in counter-terrorism and a range of other issues."
Gates was speaking to US military personnel and civilian advisors to Saudi security forces on the final day of a two-day trip to the country, the world's leading oil exporter and a key US ally in the region.
On Tuesday he met with senior Saudi officials on the second stop of a regional trip partly aimed at assuaging worries that Washington was preparing a "grand bargain" with Tehran that would move it away from Arab powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Gates said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Tuesday that Washington would proceed carefully and that no deal was imminent.
There were "some exaggerated concerns, some notion here in the region that there might be some grand bargain between the United States and Iran that would suddenly be sprung on them," he told reporters in Cairo.
Such concerns were "completely unrealistic," Gates said, pledging that Washington would consult closely with its allies and no deal would be hatched in secret.
"We will keep our friends informed about what is going so that nobody gets surprised," he said.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have quietly expressed serious concerns about US engagement with Iran, whom they see as the most serious regional threat to stability.
"Uppermost in our minds is taking measures necessary with our partners in the region, to maintain their security and their stability in particular against Iranian subversive activities," Gates said Tuesday.
US military officials at the Eskan base emphasized the role of some 800 US military and civilian personnel in helping train and equip Saudi security forces, including a new 35,000 strong interior ministry force to guard critical infrastructure like oil and gas production facilities.
"Although you do not work in a direct combat role, your mission remains essential to America's seucirty," Gates told them.
Gates meanwhile said he discussed with Saudi officials the possibility of Saudi Arabia taking responsibility for some of the around 100 Yemeni detainees still at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Gates said he and Saudi Assistant Interior Minister for Security Prince Mohammed bin Nayef discussed the idea of placing the Yemenis into the successful Saudi terrorist rehabilitation programme.
"I did raise with (Nayef) our positive impressions of the rehabilitation-repatriation programme in Saudi Arabia," Gates told reporters.
Gates said no specific request was made by the United States, which is reluctant to release the Yemeni detainees back to their own country for fear they would quickly rejoin militant groups.
"It was more a general conversation about the capability and the possibility," Gates said.
He praised the Saudi programme, which claims a 90 percent success rate, with only about a dozen of the former Guantanamo prisoners returning to militant or criminal activities.
"I think they have done as good or better a job of that than anybody," he said.