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  US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox refused to participate in an international investor conference in Saudi Arabia due to the country's still unclear role in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

  On October 2, Khashoggi, who openly criticized the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the country's crown prince personally, entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey and disappeared. Turkish police insist that the journalist was killed.

  On Friday, unnamed country officials said Khashoggi's body may have been taken outside Istanbul to a forest or farmland. After this statement, the police significantly expanded their search radius.

  Saudi authorities deny any involvement in the journalist's disappearance and promise to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

  At one time, Jamal Khashoggi was an adviser to the Saudi royal family, but then fell out of favor and was forced to move to the United States, where he became a columnist for the Washington Post.

  He went to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents necessary for his upcoming marriage.

  The Saudi side insists that after receiving consular services, Khashoggi left the building unharmed. However, Turkish police believe that he was taken in a car to the consul's residence and killed there.

  Against the backdrop of this very alarming situation, the heads of such large companies as HSBC, Credit Suisse, MasterCard, Ford, Uber, Google and others had previously refused to participate in the conference in Riyadh. Several media groups, including the New York Times, Bloomberg and CNN, recalled their journalists.

  However, the refusal at the level of the US and UK governments takes the situation to a different level and is a serious signal to the Saudi authorities.

  It is reported that Mnuchin made this decision after discussions with Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

  The latest to boycott the forum was the investment bank Goldman Sachs.

  What kind of conference is this?

  Illustration copyright AFP Image caption The refusal of politicians and businessmen to participate in the conference is a personal blow to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmani, since he is the initiator and host of the upcoming summit

  The summit, called the Future Investment Initiative, is scheduled for October 23-25. Its initiator is Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salmani, son of King Salman.

  In the country, he heads the economic affairs council and the public investment fund. During the conference, the prince plans to present to international investors his program of reforms that he intends to carry out in the country.

  In particular, Mohammed bin Salmani proposes to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil revenues, which will create many new jobs.

  Some time ago he gained fame as a reformer by lifting the ban on women driving, re-allowing cinemas and reining in the religious morality police.

  Western diplomats warmly welcomed these steps, considering them an excellent example for other conservative Middle Eastern countries.

  But the reformer prince's image took a hit in 2017 after he ordered the arrest of dozens of princes and businessmen on corruption charges. And although they were all kept not in prisons, but in an elite hotel, many believed that Mohammed bin Salmani was simply eliminating competitors in the political and business fields.

  The disappeared Jamal Khashoggi has written and spoken about this a lot, which gives many reasons to believe that his removal could be beneficial to very high-ranking officials in Saudi Arabia.

  The Turkish side claims to have audio recordings from which it clearly follows that Khashoggi was killed. US President Donald Trump sent Turkey a request to study these records, but has not yet received a response.

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Common enemies and common vision

The event, which was also attended by the secretaries general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the UN, the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), was held under the telling motto “Together We Prevail.” It included three major summits - between Saudi Arabia and the United States, between the GCC and the United States, and between the United States and the countries of the Islamic world. For United States President Donald Trump, who has never left the country since his January inauguration, the visit to Riyadh marked the beginning of his first foreign tour.

On the sidelines of the summit, its participants discussed issues of global security and stability, and the joint fight against global threats. In particular, the current topic was the situation in the Middle East in the context of the ongoing military operations in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Particularly noteworthy was the organized “five minutes of hatred” against Iran, whose leaders were not present at the event: accusations were made against Tehran of “supporting extremist organizations in the region.” The leaders of Muslim states and the United States expressed unprecedented solidarity and unanimity regarding the creeping threat of international terrorism and extremism, in the face of which they decided to put aside differences and join forces.

What was Trump talking about?

The most anticipated event of the summit, naturally, was the speech of the American president. During the election campaign, Donald Trump's harsh rhetoric towards Muslims caused considerable concern in the Islamic world, but his speech in Riyadh was very restrained and balanced. At the same time, it can hardly be compared with the famous Cairo speech of former US President Barack Obama: in 2009, the American leader extended the hand of friendship to the Islamic world and began another “reset,” and in 2017, Trump spoke about more mundane things and was more categorical in his assessments.

In particular, he called for the creation of a coalition of nations to defeat extremism, but invited Muslims to lead the fight against radicalism themselves. The American president criticized Iran, accusing it of financing terrorists, militants and various extremist groups, while at the same time saying that “Middle Eastern countries should not wait for the United States to solve their problems.”

Trump also made it clear to the Islamic world that the US does not intend to "lecture, tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or who to pray to." Instead, he proposed a partnership based on shared interests and values ​​to achieve a better future for us all, emphasizing the priority of gradual reforms over the tactics of sudden intervention in the region's affairs.

Muslim NATO?

The main results of the summit are reflected in the adopted declaration, which states that the meeting participants reject any attempts to connect the ideology of terrorism with religion and intend to fight terrorism in all its forms, as well as the roots of extremism and the sources of its financing. They also expressed a desire to establish a sustainable partnership, exchanging information about the activities of terrorist groups, the location and movements of militants. To confirm the seriousness of their intentions, the participants announced the establishment of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (GCCEI) with headquarters in Riyadh. He will monitor the activity of terrorist groups in cyberspace, tracking the correspondence of their members, the propaganda of extremism, the recruitment of new activists, as well as correcting the distorted vision of Islam by radicals and strengthening the foundations of traditional and moderate religious teachings.

Another significant document was the memorandum of understanding between the United States and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

However, the most important outcome of the meeting in Riyadh was the support by all participants of Washington’s initiative to create a new military-political alliance of more than 40 Arab and other Muslim states, which should become the supporting structure of the security architecture in the region through “the fight against terrorism and containing Iran.” It is noteworthy that the leadership role in the alliance is assigned to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and even Pakistan will also play a key role in it, and the United States itself is not included in it.

The emerging bloc, which is expected to very soon acquire a charter and a permanent military contingent, has already been dubbed “Arab NATO” by experts, especially Russian ones. The signing of agreements with Riyadh on the supply of American weapons worth $350 billion only intensified the panic among Russian analysts.

What's for us?

From the countries of Central Asia at the summit are the presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Naturally, our region was not among the priority topics on the agenda of the Riyadh meeting. Therefore, for us, this event rather served as a platform to meet face to face with neighbors and partners and discuss issues of mutual interest.

However, observing the progress and results of the Arab-Muslim-American forum, one can highlight a number of key points that seem to be of great importance for the Central Asian states.

1) First of all, US President Donald Trump, despite his aggressive anti-Muslim rhetoric during the election campaign, nevertheless made his first visit as head of state to the Custodian of the Two Noble Shrines, thereby recognizing the importance for American foreign policy of the Islamic world, of which Central Asia is a part . The religious overtones in Trump's tour are clear: from Saudi Arabia he heads to Israel and Palestine, and then to the Vatican, as if demonstrating his determination to find a common language with the three largest religions.

2) The results of the summit in Riyadh will undoubtedly raise the global fight against terrorism and extremism to a new level, but in this case Washington is acting on the principle “saving drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves.” By asking the Muslim world to take the lead in the fight against radicalism, the United States is shifting the main burden onto those countries that actually suffer the most from this threat, while making good money on arms contracts.

3) It is not only the fact of the creation of a new military bloc that is alarming, but also the fact that an alliance with the participation of more than 40 Muslim states is being created against another Muslim state - Iran. Such a development of events could threaten the integrity of the Islamic world, serve to intensify contradictions between its various branches, and increase the likelihood of hostilities. The main beneficiaries of this are the same terrorist groups against whom military operations have been conducted for many years.

4) At the very least, the list of the proposed coalition itself looks controversial. Thus, in the Middle East in the Arab world, the factor of historical rivalry between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, between the latter and Turkey, exists and operates. Attempts to create pan-Arab Sunni military-political formations to stabilize the situation in Syria and Yemen have already failed. It is also unclear whether all members of the new NATO are ready to send their troops to other countries to conduct combat operations.

In general, the summit in Riyadh outlined the contours of the American administration’s approaches to the Near and Middle East, but no revolutionary ideas were voiced at it: it all ended with the creation of new “centers” and “alliances.” Moreover, the lion's share of the costs, both material and human, for the functioning of the formed structures will be borne by the Muslim countries themselves, who are ready to begin military operations against their own brothers. Perhaps this is why peace has not come to the region for more than a century?

The Arab League summit opens in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The heads of 17 countries will attend it. The main topic is the Middle East settlement. The international community calls on the Islamic world to live in peace with Israel.

At today's summit of the League of Arab States in Riyadh, the participating countries hope, if not to accept the so-called Saudi plan, then at least to bring the positions of the parties closer together. According to a document drafted in March 2002 by then-Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, all Arab countries recognize the existence of the State of Israel, but only under certain conditions. To begin with, Israel must withdraw its troops from the territories occupied after 1967 and return Palestinian refugees, and most importantly, recognize an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

In return, Tel Aviv will receive a guarantee of normal relations with the Arab world. All previous attempts to adopt such a plan have failed. But today special guests are expected in Riyadh: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be present at the meeting. The visit to Saudi Arabia was the culmination of the Secretary General's first Middle East tour since taking office. And although according to the plan he was supposed to start it from Egypt, on March 22 Ban Ki-moon unexpectedly arrived in Iraq.

I didn’t like the surprise - the Secretary General was not greeted very warmly. During a joint press conference between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Ban Ki-moon in the Green Zone in Baghdad. He frightened the Secretary General so much that he could not continue his speech. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, on the contrary, looked very confident and calm - apparently, he was used to it. He, as if nothing had happened, continued to tell reporters about the successes achieved by the American army and Iraqi troops in ensuring security in Baghdad. But it seems that the Secretary General was not convinced by his words - on the same day Ban Ki-moon flew to Egypt.

The meeting with the head of the League of Arab States - the most influential organization in the Arab world - was called by many a rehearsal for the summit in Riyadh. The parties discussed in detail all the conflicts in which, according to Guy Moon, the Middle East is drowning, but they still paid special attention to Palestinian-Israeli relations.

“We discussed the current situation in the Middle East and the new Palestinian government of national unity. We agreed that the world community should actively contribute to the establishment of the peace process. I hope that the meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert will allow us to resume this process,” Ban Ki-moon emphasized.

Such a meeting could take place today. Ban Ki-moon's position is very clear: the time for negotiations with the politicians of the radical Hamas group has not yet come, as was demonstrated in the autonomy. The Secretary General met only with the head, Mahmoud Abbas, and two non-Hamas ministers. In addition, according to him, to resume the peace process, not much is required from the autonomy: recognize the state of Israel, comply with previous agreements with it, renounce terror and release, who was kidnapped in the summer on the border with the Gaza Strip. But Israel must also meet halfway: stop the construction and expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and improve the humanitarian situation in the region.

The Riyadh Declaration, released at the end of the Arab-Islamic summit on Sunday, emphasized the need to stop the Iranian terrorist threat in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Leaders of 55 Arab and Muslim states, as well as the United States, have called for an end to Iran's support for religious groups and a stop to its expansion into neighboring countries, mainly Syria. Although the declaration did not address mechanisms for implementing these points, it confirms the agreement to provide a force of 34 thousand troops to intervene if necessary against terrorist threats in Syria and Iraq. This implies military intervention against foreign fighters sent by Iran and supporting Iran in Syria.

Politically, the summit sent an extremely strong and clear message to Iran and the Assad regime, since they were the only Muslim countries not invited. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and his American counterpart Tillerson said that these countries were not invited because they are the largest supporters of terrorism. At the opening ceremony of the US-Islamic summit, the king of Saudi Arabia issued his biggest public indictment of Iran, calling Iran "the spearhead of global terrorism." This confirms the fact that the conflict is not moving towards compromise or a settlement. Iran must return to its borders, and must be expelled from the Arab countries it is destroying, and from Syria above all.

© AFP 2017, MANDEL NGAN US President Donald Trump at the US-Islamic World summit. May 21, 2017

Politicians and experts on Syria saw the summit and the “Riyadh declaration” as an important step in eliminating Iran. Although this cannot be done easily or immediately, they have questioned the role of the largest and most dangerous ally of the Assad regime, which has repeatedly saved the Syrian regime from condemnation in international forums and in the Security Council. Could it be the pressure being put on Russia and the international plan to change its current course in Syria?

Syrian journalist Hussein al-Zubi believes that the American-Islamic summit in Riyadh does not clarify any decision on confronting Iran, or at least on its removal.

Context

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia: Russia is scared

Al Modon 05/23/2017

Trump's visit - lots of handshakes, little use

Maariv 05/23/2017

Donald Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia

CNN 05.23.2017 “It is not yet fully clear how the American-Islamic summit will affect the entire Middle East. The peculiarity of the new coalition is that Saudi Arabia will most likely be the leading player here with the full support of the United States, and this alliance may, to a certain extent, contribute to the redrawing of spheres of influence and change the mechanisms of interaction between regional actors.”

Regarding the Russian threat and the mechanisms to resist it, al-Zoubi says the following: “I do not think that at the Riyadh summit any military alliance will be formed to confront the Russians, but a coalition may be created to put pressure on Moscow in one way or another... The issue of Russia’s withdrawal from Syria is related to international concerted efforts, which may ultimately bear fruit in countering Russia’s interests in Syria.”

These are interests that Russia requires the United States to recognize as a condition of any negotiations or agreements on the Syrian issue.

Analysts say that while the move is to forcefully remove Iran from Syria, the Russian obstacle needs political coordination and European-American deals. Perhaps Saudi Arabia itself will facilitate their conclusion with the help of its allies.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

A meeting of about one hundred representatives of the Syrian opposition and anti-government armed groups operating in the Syrian Arab Republic, invited to it by Saudi organizers, ended in Riyadh.

Moscow pays tribute to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to implement what it received from the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Vienna on November 14 this year. a mandate to convene a meeting in Riyadh of the widest possible spectrum of the Syrian opposition with the aim of developing a unified negotiating platform and forming a representative delegation for subsequent negotiations with the Syrian Government. In this context, we note that in the final documents of the meeting, the oppositionists who gathered in Riyadh agreed to participate in the inter-Syrian political process on the basis of the Geneva communiqué of June 30, 2012, although they continue to insist on a number of preconditions that contradict the spirit and letter of this non-alternative internationally recognized political platform for resolving the Syrian crisis, approved by the UN Security Council. Any agreements on a political settlement can only be the result of mutual agreement between the Government of Syria and the opposition.

We note that, despite the efforts of our Saudi colleagues, the Syrian opposition was far from fully represented at the meeting in Riyadh, which could not but affect the content of the final statement adopted by the participants. In particular, there were no Kurdish associations there - the Democratic Union Party, local governments in northern Syria. The organizers did not send them an invitation, faced with opposition from Turkey. If the Kurds are invited, Ankara threatened not to allow the Istanbul-based “National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces” into Riyadh.

A significant part of the opposition, including those on the Cairo Platform, decided to boycott the event, citing their reluctance to sit at the same table with extremists and terrorists. Unfortunately, there are grounds for such assessments. Among those who arrived in Riyadh were individuals with a bad reputation, including representatives of such groups as Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. The first, among other things, periodically carried out attacks on the Russian Embassy in Damascus. The militants of the second fight in the same ranks with terrorists from Jabhat Al-Nusra and are part of the joint terrorist structure Jaysh al-Fatah. We remain convinced that terrorists of all kinds must be excluded from the political process in Syria.

The inter-Syrian dialogue is intended to be inclusive, providing for the effective participation in it of representatives of the patriotic Syrian opposition, who were able to develop constructive approaches at previous meetings in Moscow, Cairo, Astana, and recently in Hasakah and Damascus. We consider the results of the meeting in Riyadh as a contribution to this common fund.

Now, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Syria, S. de Mistura, in accordance with the instructions of the MGBC, should soon bring together the results of the work of all of the above “platforms” and propose a balanced composition of a truly representative delegation from the opposition to establish sustainable negotiations with representatives of the CAP Government, such as require the provisions of the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and the MGPS documents of October 30 and November 14 of this year.

Let us emphasize that this task was entrusted to the UN special envoy. Therefore, we cannot agree with the attempt made by the group gathered in Riyadh to arrogate to itself the right to speak on behalf of the entire Syrian opposition. They also received with surprise the information about the urgent convening on December 14 of the “group of friends of Syria,” which is known for its commitment to the exhausted line of overthrowing the legitimate government in Damascus. Such attempts to once again divert the process into one-sided, non-inclusive formats harm the interests of the cause and undermine the authority of the MGBC, within which, at the cost of considerable effort, it was possible to unite all the key “external players.”

Russia is ready to continue collective work within the framework of the ISBC with the participation of all its members without exception in order to achieve consensus on a set of issues related to creating conditions for the start of a truly pan-Syrian political process without preconditions.

All participants in the ISSG have signed up to a key principle: only the Syrian people can decide the fate of Syria. Agreements must be respected.