Leaders pose for a group photo before the opening of the Gulf Co-operation Council summit in Riyadh yesterday.
AFP/Riyadh
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman called yesterday for confronting a threat to regional stability.
Salman’s call came at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh also attended by French President Francois Hollande, who said his country was “by the side” of the Gulf’s Arab nations.
Salman stressed the need to confront an external threat that “aims to expand control and impose its hegemony”, risking regional stability and creating “sectarian sedition”.
Hollande, the first Western leader to attend a GCC summit, said France shared the dangers facing the region and he had come “to affirm the commitment of France to be by your side”.
The summit brought together leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Hollande told the summit France supports coalition efforts “to ensure the stability of Yemen”, and backs Saudi Arabia’s position that talks between Yemen’s political forces must be held in Riyadh.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen reject such a proposal and Iran, which denies accusations of arming the Houthis, has called for negotiations at a neutral location.
The leaders at the summit welcomed Hadi’s decision to convene on May 17 in Riyadh a congress for “all the Yemeni parties who support the legitimacy, security and stability of Yemen”.
Hollande’s visit came as US President Barack Obama prepares to host GCC leaders for talks next week.
Most GCC countries are also part of a US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
Security was high in Riyadh after IS threats to attack the kingdom. Green-bereted Royal Guards manned checkpoints, and a sniffer dog checked vehicles entering the Diriyah Palace summit venue.
Both Paris and Washington have also sought to reassure the Gulf states about an international accord being finalised over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Gulf states fear Iran could still develop an atomic bomb under the deal that would limit its nuclear capabilities in return for lifting crippling international sanctions.
Tehran denies trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
“I know that Iran is at the heart of your preoccupations,” Hollande told the summit.
In its final statement, the GCC expressed hope that a final accord between Tehran and six major powers, including France and the US, would “guarantee the peaceful character of the Iranian nuclear programme”.
The leaders also requested that the accord “conform to all the international standards”.
The only other foreign leader to have been invited to a GCC summit was Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in 2007.
Riyadh and Paris set up panel to seal major deals
Reuters/Riyadh
France is in talks to agree billions of euros worth of contracts in Saudi Arabia that could be completed quickly, ranging from defence to civil aviation, transport and energy, the French government said yesterday.
Speaking after President Francois Hollande held talks with key ministers of Saudi Arabia’s new cabinet, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the two countries had set up a joint committee to seal some 20 projects over the coming months.
“If these projects are finalised, then that will represent several dozen billions of euros,” he told reporters, adding the first deals should be realised “quickly”.
“We feel there is the desire by the new team to go quickly in its choices.”
Declining to give specific company details, he said talks in the defence sector were at an advanced stage. He confirmed that some of those deals involved naval projects.
Hollande said some of the contracts could be confirmed as early as June, with more to be announced at a Franco-Saudi business forum in October.
“We want to act quickly,” he told a news conference in Riyadh. “We are here to set up a long-lasting strategic partnership.”
Hollande was in Riyadh, his fourth visit since becoming president, at the invitation of Saudi Arabia to attend a summit of Gulf leaders.
Fabius said other sectors included energy, where Total is interested in a solar energy deal, and a feasibility study for nuclear power.
Talks were also held with the chief executive of Saudi Arabian Airlines yesterday concerning a possible new order for plane supplier Airbus, Fabius said. Rail infrastructure negotiations for Jeddah and the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah were also in the works, he said.
*Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday he was optimistic about the future of the kingdom’s oil and gas sector under the new leadership, state news agency SPA reported.
“I would like to talk about the future, and I will be honest, I am optimistic about the future of oil and gas and manufacturing in the kingdom under the leadership of King Salman, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince and head of the Supreme Economic and Development Council Mohamed bin Salman,” Naimi said according to SPA.
“I see a bright future for education, training, development and manufacturing in the kingdom. And for transforming the kingdom into a leading country in... industries related to oil, gas, petrochemicals and mining.”
