Word: saudi
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...Iran's neighbors, and most of those countries would read the French comments as part of an effort to fabricate a sense of crisis over Iran's nuclear program. Indeed, even as Fillon spoke, the Gulf Cooperation Council - which includes such key U.S. allies as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - was moving to open trade talks with Tehran despite U.S. calls for Iran?s isolation. And Egypt was hosting a high-level Iranian diplomatic delegation in talks aimed at normalizing relations, rejecting talk of confrontation and instead demanding a peaceful solution "through negotiations which guarantee...
With Sharif safely re-exiled in Saudi Arabia, and a deal with Musharraf still percolating, Bhutto may think the way is cleared for a triumphant return to the premiership. But Pakistan is a different country from the one she fled eight years ago, and many have turned against the one-time democracy campaigner for sleeping with the enemy, Musharraf. Widespread accusations of corruption colored her last term in power, and husband Asif Zardari still carries the nickname "Mr. Ten Percent." An exchange of PPP support for Musharraf?s reelection as President by parliament has been conditional on the dropping...
...Musharraf has become so vulnerable that even an opposition figure who has long been absent poses a serious threat. Now in exile in Jeddah, where Saudi authorities have him under virtual house arrest, the 57-year-old Sharif continues to haunt Musharraf, 64. His return to Pakistan, though brief, has effectively changed the country's power equation. In the immediate aftermath of Sharif's deportation, public reaction was muted. But there is a growing sense of a nation spoiling for a fight. The day after Sharif's failed comeback from exile, his political party, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN...
...focused on the failure to achieve consensus among Iraq politicians, it may be that the absence of a consensus on Iraq between the U.S. and Iraq's neighbors is even more dangerous. Given the weakness of the central government in Iraq, stability there is unlikely without an agreement among Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Iran over managing the political contest there. The most powerful stakeholder among them is Iran, which has close ties to the dominant political parties returned by the Iraqi electorate. And as long as Iran believes the U.S. is pursuing a policy of regime-change in Tehran...
...Pervez Musharraf] has fired the pistol shot for an open revolt. This will not be just a run up in the streets, but will have implications for times to come. If he thinks that he can unconstitutionally and unlawfully abduct Nawaz Sharif and send him back to Jeddah [in Saudi Arabia], well, there are very serious ramifications which we will watch unfold in the coming days and weeks. It cannot happen that he can sidestep a political contest for presidential elections by cutting a deal with Benazir Bhutto, and sideline Nawaz Sharif and other parties. If Musharraf and his cronies...