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From: Anwar.Mohammed@cs.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic,misc.headlines,talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: News that _I_ missed
Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 22:12:20 -0400
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
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Some articles on the topic: 


RTw  12/23 0859  GULF ARABS DEMAND IRAN WITHDRAWAL FROM ISLANDS 

 (Eds: updates with end of summit details, quotes) 
    By Youssef Azmeh 
    ABU DHABI, Dec 23, Reuter - Gulf Arab states, emerging from a summit
that restored 
their unity after almost three months of crisis, piled pressure on Iran
on Wednesday to 
reverse its virtual annexation of a strategic Gulf island. 
    They issued a statement after a three-day Gulf Cooperation Council
summit saying Iran 
had to show proof of its good neighbourly intentions by rescinding
measures that "rocked 
Gulf stability and security." 
    The leaders avoided the anti-Iranian rhetoric of recent statements
by Egypt, which 
engineered a last minute settlement of a border row between Saudi Arabia
and Qatar that 
allowed all members to attend the summit. 
    Egypt said its fears about Iranian intentions in the region and
Tehran's alleged 
encouragement of Moslem fundamentalist unrest were largely behind
President Hosni 
Mubarak's mediation. 
    The GCC statement stressed that developing relations between the
Gulf Arab states and 
Iran "is linked to enhacing confidence and to measures Iran might take
in line with its 
commitment to the principle of good neighbourliness and the respect of
the sovreignty and 
territorial integrity of the region's states." 
    It denounced Iran's measures on the island of Abu Musa, which it
shares with the 
United Arab Emirates, and the continued occupation of the Greater and
Lesser Tumbs 
islands. 
    Iran earlier this year extended its control over Abu Musa beyond a
small garrison it 
established there in 1971 under an agreement with the UAE emirate of Sharjah. 
    It has since rescinded orders expelling foreigners who worked on the
island for the 
UAE government. But diplomats say it continues to exercise its authority
over the whole 
island, which the UAE sess as as virtual annexation. 
    The Tumbs were occupied by the former Shah of Iran in 1971 and the
UAE has since the 
Abu Musa crisis erupted insisted that they have to be returned as part
of a general 
settlement. 
    The GCC leaders called on the U.N. to maintain sanctions against
Iraq for not fully 
implementing Security Council resolutions following its 1990 invasion of
Kuwait. 
    They endorsed once again the "Damascus Declaration," a pact signed
with Egypt and 
Syria after their troops took part in the U.S. led alliance that drove
Iraqi troops out of 
Kuwait. 
    But delegates said the leaders were unable to agree the details of a
fund they 
announced they would create at their last summit in Kuwait last year
which would have 
helped Egypt's and Syria's economic development programme. 
    They said the leaders could not agree on a breakdown of
contributions from each state 
although the total amount had been scaled down to $6 billion from the
$10 billion agreed 
last year. 
    The fact that the leaders of all GCC states -- Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and 
Qatar -- attended the summit was seen as a major achievement although
their unity was only 
maintained with outside help. 
    Most delegations were not too worried for the moment about the slow
progress of the 
conservative rulers discussions on a future security structure for the
region that boasts 
the bulk of global oil and gas reserves. 
    The leaders were unable to choose between two proposals. 
    One put forward by a summit committee headed by Oman's Sultan Qaboos
to create a 
100,000-man rapid deployment force that could rush to defend any member
against external 
aggression, such as Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. 
    Another was a Saudi-supported plan to expand the existing 10,000-man
"Peninsula 
Shield" force which had so far played a largely symbolic role and is
commanded by a Saudi 
general. 
    Little headway was made on plans for a reginal common market
although the summit 
called for concrete proposals to be submitted to next year's summit due
to be held in 
Saudi Arabia next December. 
 REUTER YA DYA DJG 



RTw  12/23 0835  GULF LEADERS END SUMMIT 

    ABU DHABI, Dec 23, Reuter - Gulf Arab states ended a three-day
annual summit on 
Wednesday with an appeal to Iran to end its occupation of three
strategic Gulf islands as 
a condition for restoring friendly ties across the Gulf. 
    A joint statement issued after the summit, marked by relief over the
settlement of a 
row between two Gulf Cooperation Council members, also called for
continued U.N. sanctions 
against Iraq. 
    It said Baghdad had failed to implement key Security Council
decisions following the 
expulsion of its troops from Kuwait early last year. 
    The summit broke no new ground on steps to achieve a Gulf common
market, but called on 
officials to present a plan for common external tarrifs for all six
members to the next 
summit which will be held in Saudi Arabia in December 1993. 
    The statement stressed that developing relations between the Gulf
Arab states and Iran 
"is linked to enhacing confidence and to measures Iran might take in
line with its 
commitment to the principle of good neighbourliness and the respect of
the sovreignty and 
territorial integrity of the region's states." 
    It denounced Iran's measures on the island of Abu Musa, which it
shares with the 
United Arab Emirates, and the continued occupation of the smaller
islands, the Greater and 
Lesser Tumbs. 
    It expressed deep regret and extreme concern for the unjustified
Iranian measures 
which contradict a proclaimed wish to develop relations and called on
Iran to rescind 
those measures and end the occupation which it said was "shaking peace
and stability in 
the area." 
    Iran earlier this year extended its control over Abu Musa beyond a
small garrison it 
established there in 1971 under an agreement with the UAE emirate of Sharjah. 
    It has since rescinded orders expelling foreigners who worked on the
island for the 
UAE government but diplomats in the region say that its security forces
continue to 
exercise their authority over the whole island. 
    The UAE has seen this as virtual annexation. 
    The Tumbs were occupied by the former Shah of Iran in 1971 and the
UAE has since the 
Abu Musa crisis erupted insisted that they have to be returned as part
of a general 
settlement. 
 REUTER YA DYA DJG 


RTw  12/26 1441  IRAN HINTS IT READY TO GO TO WAR OVER ISLANDS 

 (Eds: updates with SNSC statement) 
    NICOSIA, Dec 26, Reuter - Iran told its Gulf Arab neighbours on
Saturday it was ready 
to defend militarily three disputed islands, reminding them of its
eight-year war with 
Iraq. 
    "Our eight-year defence (in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war) has proved to
the world that 
our brave nation will never hesitate to defend the sovereignty and
safeguard the 
territorial integrity of Iran," Iran's Supreme National Security Council
(SNSC) said. 
    A meeting of the heads of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council
voiced full support 
on Wednesday for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its dispute with Iran
over the Gulf 
islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tumb and Lesser Tumb. 
    The move has triggered strong Iranian criticism and warnings.
Besides the UAE, the GCC 
also groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 
    Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who chaired the SNSC's
meeting on 
Saturday, said during his Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University:
"Iran is surely 
stronger than the likes of you. To reach these islands one has to cross
a sea of blood." 
    The SNSC, quoted by the official Iranian news agency IRNA received
in Cyprus, also 
criticised the GCC and described its support of the UAE as "irresponsible." 
   "No country will ever be able to covet even an inch of Iranian soil,"
said the SNSC. 
    Earlier on Saturday, the English language Tehran Times, believed to
be close to the 
Foreign Ministry, said the UAE should be aware that Iran's
self-restraint had certain 
limits. 
    It dismissed a UAE claim to the islands as unfounded and said a 1971
agreement to 
share Abu Musa with the UAE emirate of Sharjah still applied. 
    "The idea of Abu Dhabi officials that Tehran would always refrain
from responding to 
the blows inflicted by them was "childish," Tehran Times said. 
    IRNA said the newspaper was commenting on the GCC statement which
urged Iran to 
reverse what it says is the annexation of Abu Musa island and to pull
out of the two other 
islands. 
    Iran says the islands near the entrance to the Gulf have
historically belonged to it. 
The dispute flared this year after Iran tightened its control over Abu Musa. 
 REUTER AF JCH 

RTw  12/28 1011  TEHRAN PAPER WANTS IRAN REVIVE CLAIM TO BAHRAIN 

    TEHRAN, Dec 28, Reuter - Radical Iranian newspapers, angered by Gulf
Arab claims to 
three disputed islands, are hitting back with demands that Tehran revive
its claim to 
Bahrain and consider improving ties with Iraq. 
    President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and senior officials strongly
condemned a statement 
last week by leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) backing the
United Arab 
Emirates (UAE) in its dispute with Iran over the Gulf islands. 
    But the newspapers Salam and Jomhuri Eslami demanded that Tehran go
further than 
restating its resolve to defend its sovereignty over the islands of Abu
Musa, Greater Tumb 
and Lesser Tumb. 
    "It is not very clear why the Sheikh of Bahrain has joined the
others," Jomhuri Eslami 
said. The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 
    "If historical records are to be the criterion, the sheikh of
Bahrain should go about 
his own business and the rule of Iranian people in Bahrain, which
belonged to Iran until 
1970, should be re-established," the paper said. 
    "It is fitting for the foreign ministry to raise the question of
Iran's sovereignty 
over Bahrain...and start a serious and effective drive to end the
separation of Bahrain 
from Iran," it added. 
    The late Shah of Iran relinquished Iran's claim to Bahrain in 1970,
a year before the 
island became an independent state. 
    Iranian leaders since the 1979 Islamic revolution have carefully
avoided raising the 
Bahrain issue although it is occasionally brought up in the press during
periods of 
tension with conservative Arab states across the Gulf. 
    Salam newspaper said the GCC stand showed that the policy of
appeasing pro-Western 
Gulf Arab rulers had backfired. 
    "No matter how much you smile at sheikhs on the southern coast of
the Persian Gulf, it 
is the United States and the West which speak the last word," it said. 
    "They (the sheikhs) are nobody," Salam said, adding that Iran should
revise its policy 
towards its neighbours, especially its former war enemy Iraq. 
    "Disregarding the logical potential of expanding ties with
Iraq...and going along with 
some Saudi-backed trends among the Iraqi opposition have played a role
in the formation of 
the current situation," the paper said. 
    Ties between Iran and Iraq, which fought a war from 1980 to 1988,
improved briefly 
after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. 
    But Tehran, which denounced the invasion and remained neutral in the
ensuing war, 
again called for President Saddam Hussein's overthrow when he suppressed
a Shi'ite Moslem 
revolt which swept southern Iraq after his 1991 defeat in Kuwait. 
 REUTER SIJ MZ AET 


  
