Sunday, 2009 January 2 January 2011 17:35
AFP) - went and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday in a tour of the Gulf region, which will seek to obtain The support of Arab allies to strengthen sanctions on Iran and gain wider support for the new Iraqi government, according to officials.
In the tour that will last for five days and include the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar, according to sources, Clinton will call on the delegation accompanying the region's governments, civil society and business circles for more cooperation to push for democratic reforms and economic and social progress.
A second flight by the Clinton to the oil-rich region during the month since her visit to Bahrain last December. An official high-level State Department official told reporters that Clinton would discuss with Gulf Arab leaders on the developments related to Iran on the other side of the Gulf. She will also discuss how to progress in the new round of multilateral nuclear talks.
The host country Turkey announced that these negotiations, which includes Iran and the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on Tehran's nuclear program controversial will be held in Istanbul on 21 and 22 January January. The official, who asked not to be named, said Clinton "wants to assess the situation that has contributed to sanctions" on Iran.
Under pressure from the United States, the imposition of UN Security Council in June a new package of sanctions against Iran to discourage them from pursuing uranium enrichment. Washington sees the sanctions as a means to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table.
But the official acknowledged that the sanctions was a "strong blow" to countries such as United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman for being associated with close economic ties with Iran, hinting to the possibility of failure to get the full cooperation of these countries to strengthen those sanctions. He said, "so we welcome the opportunity to speak candidly about what works and what does not, as in how better to join the international sanctions," speaking about the possibility of seeking technical assistance and training.
The file will occupy Iraq and the stalled peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians as well as the space of talks Clinton visiting Abu Dhabi, Dubai on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Muscat Doha on Wednesday and Thursday.
As the case for the administration of President George W. Bush, the president's team seeks to carry Barack Obama's Sunni Arab allies to overcome what he considers the reservations and in order to build closer ties with the new Iraqi government.
Obama on Tuesday and drew congratulations to Iraq after the parliament gave its confidence to the new government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying the move represents a historic moment "important" and renunciation of extremism. Washington sees in the new government which was formed months after the legislative elections in March, a broader representation of the Iraqi people, including Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under former president Saddam Hussein and his predecessors.
The senior official said, "What we hope is getting really extract more expressions of support for the Iraqi government." He added: "I think what we will call on States that have not yet opened an embassy in Baghdad to do so." And evaluate the 22-member Arab League has diplomatic relations with Iraq has opened most of the embassies in Baghdad. However, a number of them did not send a crew to the embassies or refrained from sending ambassadors. And evaluate the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have full diplomatic relations with Iraq, where each represents an ambassador in Baghdad.
In Qatar, U.S. officials said that Clinton also will participate in the Forum for the Future in its seventh session, a milestone in this round, which aimed at strengthening cooperation between governments and economic sectors and civil society. The Forum launched the initiative of the Bush administration to be able to leaders from the Middle East and North Africa and the Group of Eight and missions of the economic sector and civil society to meet and discuss topics of reform.
He said another senior U.S. official said that Clinton will meet during this leg of the tour, activists from civil society are interested in key issues such as child marriage or domestic violence as well as it is in the promotion of economic development and education. The official added on condition of anonymity, said Clinton will meet in Doha Forum representative group "to listen to some of the challenges they face and about what we can do to help them in their work."
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