Devil Soul
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2010
- Messages
- 22,931
- Reaction score
- 45
- Country
- Location
TENSION WITH U.S. UNLIKELY TO HIT KINGDOM BUSINESS TIES-
Kuwait Nudges Saudis To Sit, Seen As Worthy Replacement
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 23, (Agencies): Kuwait is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to take up the UN Security Council seat that Riyadh has spurned in protest at the world body’s failure to end the war in Syria, a senior Kuwaiti official said on Wednesday. “We are part of efforts to convince Saudi (Arabia) to take the seat back,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah told reporters, adding that the Saudis had yet to officially notify the United Nations of its decision. Saudi Arabia’s two-year term on the 15-member Security Council would have started on Jan 1. Its unprecedented decision on Friday to turn down its seat has created uncertainty over the procedures for finding an alternative country to fill it. Kuwait, which like Saudi Arabia belongs to the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, has emerged as an early front-runner, but Jarallah said: “It is too early to talk about this.” Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented rejection of a UN Security Council place has pushed the world body into uncharted territory. With 10 weeks until Saudi Arabia’s term on the 15-member Security Council was due to start — on Jan 1 — UN diplomats do not appear to be in a rush to fill the vacancy and some are hoping Riyadh might still change its mind. “One waits to see what will happen,” British UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said on Tuesday. The Arab group of countries at the United Nations urged Saudi Arabia on Saturday to reconsider its decision to renounce the rotating seat on the council in protest at the body’s failure to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues.
Saudi Arabia’s decision has diplomats and officials scratching their heads over what formal notification is needed to begin the process of deciding an alternative candidate. “There is no agreed procedure because this is the first time that it has happened,” said French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud. “It will be done in a few weeks I think. It will take time.” The Security Council is dominated by its five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — which have veto power over its decisions. To ensure diversity, the council’s 10 elected members are made up of three members from Africa, two from Asia- Pacific, one from Eastern Europe, two from the Latin American and Caribbean group, and two from the Western European and others group. Five are chosen each year to serve two-year terms. Arab states are split between the Asia- Pacific and African regional blocs and there is an unofficial deal that at least one Arab nation is always represented on the Security Council. Saudi Arabia was the Arab candidate from the Asia-Pacific bloc. Kuwait had put its hand up to be the next Arab candidate from the group and run for the 2018-2019 term on the Security Council, which has led some diplomats to speculate that the Gulf US ally could be a capable replacement. “They would be a good candidate, but it’s for them to decide,” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
Keen
Another senior UN diplomat, who is from a country in the Asia-Pacific group, described the Kuwaiti UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi as “very keen” on the idea. Otaibi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Two senior Asia-Pacific UN diplomats, however, suggested that because of the unusual circumstances, Saudi Arabia might not necessarily be replaced with another Arab country. “There is much speculation on what might happen,” said one of the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Other Asians have also expressed interest.” Diplomats say that a replacement chosen by the Arab states would need to get the backing of the Asia-Pacific group and then gain approval from two-thirds of the 193- member UN General Assembly, like other Security Council members. Saudi Arabia’s frustration with its main ally the United States over Middle East policy will not harm business relations or oil sales, despite a threat from its spy chief of a “major shift” in ties, businessmen and economists say.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the head of Saudi intelligence, warned European diplomats last week that energy and defence deals could suffer as a result of differences over the conflict in Syria and other issues, a Saudi source said. Although mega-contracts have occasionally been used to strengthen political relationships, particularly in defence, economists and businessmen said business ties between US and Saudi firms were generally immune to dips in the relationship. “I don’t think there are direct links between trade and the political relationship. That’s not how the Saudis work. But it’s also true that when the bilateral relationship is good, it helps,” said a diplomatic source in the Gulf. The United States is the main supplier for most Saudi military needs, from F-15 fighters to control and command systems worth tens of billions of dollars in recent years, while American contractors win major energy deals. The world’s top oil exporter and its biggest consumer have enjoyed close economic ties for decades, with US firms building much of the infrastructure of the modern Saudi state after its oil boom in the 1970s. Younger Saudi princes were mostly educated in the United States as were many of the kingdom’s business executives, senior officials and cabinet members, including the oil, finance, economy and education ministers, and the central bank governor. “When you hear Bandar threatening, it doesn’t mean we are going to sell our Tbills or stop the military contracts. That’s not going to happen. You are talking about a relationship and an alliance that goes back 60 years. But what they are doing is saying, ‘hey wake up, don’t take us for granted’,” said a Saudi businessman who declined to be identified.
Over the decades, Riyadh has pumped its earnings from energy sales, often to the United States, back into the US economy, buying its goods and services and investing in government debt. The Saudi riyal has been pegged to the dollar at the same rate of $1 = SR3.75 for many years, and the kingdom has put some of its $690 billion foreign holdings into US treasuries. As a result, trade has boomed, with US goods and services exports to Saudi Arabia hitting $17 billion in 2011, and US direct investment there reaching $8 billion in 2010. “Commercial relationships on trade or oil won’t be affected at all. Saudi has had bad political relationships with many countries and still continued to deal with them commercially. This is just a political rift and doesn’t mean that it will affect the private or public businesses,” said a Saudi official. Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador lashed out at the Security Council on Tuesday and indicated that his country is standing by its decision to reject the seat it was elected to on the UN’s most powerful body. It was Abdallah Al-Mouallimi’s first public appearance following Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented and stunning about-face Friday when it rejected a council seat just hours after the General Assembly elected the Mideast oil giant to serve a two-year term.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/200744/reftab/36/Default.aspx
Kuwait Nudges Saudis To Sit, Seen As Worthy Replacement
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 23, (Agencies): Kuwait is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to take up the UN Security Council seat that Riyadh has spurned in protest at the world body’s failure to end the war in Syria, a senior Kuwaiti official said on Wednesday. “We are part of efforts to convince Saudi (Arabia) to take the seat back,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah told reporters, adding that the Saudis had yet to officially notify the United Nations of its decision. Saudi Arabia’s two-year term on the 15-member Security Council would have started on Jan 1. Its unprecedented decision on Friday to turn down its seat has created uncertainty over the procedures for finding an alternative country to fill it. Kuwait, which like Saudi Arabia belongs to the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, has emerged as an early front-runner, but Jarallah said: “It is too early to talk about this.” Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented rejection of a UN Security Council place has pushed the world body into uncharted territory. With 10 weeks until Saudi Arabia’s term on the 15-member Security Council was due to start — on Jan 1 — UN diplomats do not appear to be in a rush to fill the vacancy and some are hoping Riyadh might still change its mind. “One waits to see what will happen,” British UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said on Tuesday. The Arab group of countries at the United Nations urged Saudi Arabia on Saturday to reconsider its decision to renounce the rotating seat on the council in protest at the body’s failure to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues.
Saudi Arabia’s decision has diplomats and officials scratching their heads over what formal notification is needed to begin the process of deciding an alternative candidate. “There is no agreed procedure because this is the first time that it has happened,” said French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud. “It will be done in a few weeks I think. It will take time.” The Security Council is dominated by its five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — which have veto power over its decisions. To ensure diversity, the council’s 10 elected members are made up of three members from Africa, two from Asia- Pacific, one from Eastern Europe, two from the Latin American and Caribbean group, and two from the Western European and others group. Five are chosen each year to serve two-year terms. Arab states are split between the Asia- Pacific and African regional blocs and there is an unofficial deal that at least one Arab nation is always represented on the Security Council. Saudi Arabia was the Arab candidate from the Asia-Pacific bloc. Kuwait had put its hand up to be the next Arab candidate from the group and run for the 2018-2019 term on the Security Council, which has led some diplomats to speculate that the Gulf US ally could be a capable replacement. “They would be a good candidate, but it’s for them to decide,” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
Keen
Another senior UN diplomat, who is from a country in the Asia-Pacific group, described the Kuwaiti UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi as “very keen” on the idea. Otaibi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Two senior Asia-Pacific UN diplomats, however, suggested that because of the unusual circumstances, Saudi Arabia might not necessarily be replaced with another Arab country. “There is much speculation on what might happen,” said one of the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Other Asians have also expressed interest.” Diplomats say that a replacement chosen by the Arab states would need to get the backing of the Asia-Pacific group and then gain approval from two-thirds of the 193- member UN General Assembly, like other Security Council members. Saudi Arabia’s frustration with its main ally the United States over Middle East policy will not harm business relations or oil sales, despite a threat from its spy chief of a “major shift” in ties, businessmen and economists say.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the head of Saudi intelligence, warned European diplomats last week that energy and defence deals could suffer as a result of differences over the conflict in Syria and other issues, a Saudi source said. Although mega-contracts have occasionally been used to strengthen political relationships, particularly in defence, economists and businessmen said business ties between US and Saudi firms were generally immune to dips in the relationship. “I don’t think there are direct links between trade and the political relationship. That’s not how the Saudis work. But it’s also true that when the bilateral relationship is good, it helps,” said a diplomatic source in the Gulf. The United States is the main supplier for most Saudi military needs, from F-15 fighters to control and command systems worth tens of billions of dollars in recent years, while American contractors win major energy deals. The world’s top oil exporter and its biggest consumer have enjoyed close economic ties for decades, with US firms building much of the infrastructure of the modern Saudi state after its oil boom in the 1970s. Younger Saudi princes were mostly educated in the United States as were many of the kingdom’s business executives, senior officials and cabinet members, including the oil, finance, economy and education ministers, and the central bank governor. “When you hear Bandar threatening, it doesn’t mean we are going to sell our Tbills or stop the military contracts. That’s not going to happen. You are talking about a relationship and an alliance that goes back 60 years. But what they are doing is saying, ‘hey wake up, don’t take us for granted’,” said a Saudi businessman who declined to be identified.
Over the decades, Riyadh has pumped its earnings from energy sales, often to the United States, back into the US economy, buying its goods and services and investing in government debt. The Saudi riyal has been pegged to the dollar at the same rate of $1 = SR3.75 for many years, and the kingdom has put some of its $690 billion foreign holdings into US treasuries. As a result, trade has boomed, with US goods and services exports to Saudi Arabia hitting $17 billion in 2011, and US direct investment there reaching $8 billion in 2010. “Commercial relationships on trade or oil won’t be affected at all. Saudi has had bad political relationships with many countries and still continued to deal with them commercially. This is just a political rift and doesn’t mean that it will affect the private or public businesses,” said a Saudi official. Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador lashed out at the Security Council on Tuesday and indicated that his country is standing by its decision to reject the seat it was elected to on the UN’s most powerful body. It was Abdallah Al-Mouallimi’s first public appearance following Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented and stunning about-face Friday when it rejected a council seat just hours after the General Assembly elected the Mideast oil giant to serve a two-year term.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/200744/reftab/36/Default.aspx
