Saudi and Iran agree to fight Sunni-Shiite strife http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070304/wl_mideast_afp/saudiirandiplomacy_070304140306 RIYADH (AFP) - The leaders of regional heavyweights Iran and and Saudi Arabia agreed at talks in Riyadh to fight growing Sunni-Shiite strife, warning that it was the greatest danger facing the region. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he and Saudi King Abdullah agreed at their meeting on Saturday that their two countries would work together to thwart "enemy" plots seeking to divide the Islamic world. "The two leaders affirmed that the greatest danger presently threatening the Islamic nation is the attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and that efforts must concentrate on countering these attempts and closing ranks," Saudi Arabia's official SPA news agency added. The meeting between the regional Shiite and Sunni Muslim oil powers was held against a backdrop of mounting fears that the sectarian bloodshed engulfing Iraq could spill over into the region. Relations between Riyadh and Tehran have been strained over non-Arab Iran's growing influence in Iraq and its alleged backing of Shiite militias battling the once-ruling Sunni minority there. At one point Saudi Arabia accused the United States of effectively handing the country to Iran and triggered reports -- swiftly denied by Riyadh -- of possible Saudi intervention on behalf of Sunnis. Saudi commentators saw Ahmadinejad's visit as a sign that the two countries are pooling efforts to ease explosive regional crises. SPA said the two leaders stressed the need to preserve Iraq's "independence, national unity and equality between its citizens." It said Ahmadinejad also endorsed Riyadh's efforts to resolve the political crisis in Lebanon, which has raised fears of a return to the communal bloodletting that tore the country apart in the 1975-1990 civil war. Ahmadinejad's visit came at a time when his country is under intense Western pressure over its nuclear programme. Saudi Arabia champions a nuclear-free Middle East, but is also keen to avert a US-Iran military showdown which could destabilise the entire Gulf region. The Iranian leader previously met King Abdullah at an Islamic summit in Mecca in December 2005, making this his first visit to the kingdom specifically for bilateral talks. Ahmadinejad told reporters on his return to Tehran that he and Abdullah discussed "plots carried out by the enemies in order to divide the world of Islam." "Fortunately we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies and we condemned them," he said. He did not specify who the enemies were. Iran's chief Western foe, the United States, is one of Riyadh's closest allies. Lebanon has also severely tested ties between predominantly Shiite Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, which provides substantial financial aid to Beirut and has close links with the Western-backed government of Sunni Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. The anti-Syrian government has been crippled by an opposition ministerial walkout and an open-ended protest spearheaded by the Iranian-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah. But Riyadh and Tehran recently began working together to reduce tensions in Lebanon, and according to the Saudi account of the talks, Ahmadinejad said Iran was "assisting the kingdom's efforts" to calm the situation and end the crisis. The two leaders expressed the hope that "all Lebanese sides will respond to these efforts," SPA said. It said Ahmadinejad also "voiced support for the Arab peace initiative" endorsed at an Arab summit in 2002, although Ahmadinejad's office on Sunday denied any such discussion had taken place. "In the meeting of President Ahmadinejad with King Abdullah there was absolutely no talk about the 2002 initiative," Ehsan Jahandidieh of the presidential press office told AFP in Tehran. Under the Saudi-authored plan, the Arab world would normalise ties with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state. However, Ahmadinejad has said repeatedly that Israel should be "wiped from the map" and predicted that the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.
I've been calling for the U.S. to bring Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran into Iraq negotiations for a while. While I'm skeptical of these just concluded talks, they are necessary if Iraq is to have any hope. Same for Lebanon. Iran must talk and have serious dialog with the Arab countries or the Middle East will remain unstable and could explode. I couldn't agree more that the Shia vs. Sunni issue is now the main problem for the region, even more than Israel. It's going to be a very long road before the Arab countries have one ounce of trust towards Iran, but the journey must at least get started.
