Excerpts: Saudi re China/Iran.China nixes snbctions re Iran.Al Qaeda in
Aceh,Indonesia.Demand Lebanon's President Suleiman resign 17 March 2010

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 17 Mar.'10:"China 'knows its duties' in Iran nuke
tussle: Saud",Agence France Presse

EULL TEXT:RIYADH - China fully knows what it should do as a global power in
the effort to halt Iran's nuclear push, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign
Minister, said in an interview published Monday(15 Mar.).
"China is perfectly aware of the scope of its responsibilities and its
obligations, including in the position it holds on the international stage
and as a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council," Prince Saud told
Al-Riyadh newspaper.
He underscored that China is a "member of the six-party international group
dealing with the Iran nuclear crisis," adding Riyadh supports the group's
work, and he hoped Iran would cooperate with its efforts.
"We hope that Iran would cooperate with those efforts, and to see an end to
the crisis in a way that would serve in making the region free of all
weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons in particular," he said.
Prince Saud was responding to a question about Riyadh's official denial
Friday(12 Mar) that Saudi officials had discussed with visiting US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates pressuring China to support more sanctions on Iran.
Gates told journalists two days before that it was a part of his talks with
King Abdullah and other officials, but in an official statement the Saudi
government said the issue was not discussed.
Washington has been seeking Saudi help in pressuring China to distance
itself from Iran to support a new round of UN sanctions on Tehran.
China depends on both Saudi Arabia and Iran for a large part of its crude
oil imports. - AFP

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 17 Mar.'10:"China shows no sign of budging on Iran
sanctions",Associated Press
QUOTE:"Cina ... depends on Iran for much of its energy needs"

FULL TEXT:BEIJING - China showed no sign Tuesday(16 Mar) of throwing its
support behind new sanctions against Iran following talks with Britain's
foreign minister, who had hoped to persuade Beijing to join a growing
international consensus for more stringent measures.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi maintained that sanctions weren't the solution
to disagreements over Iran's nuclear program and that more talks were the
way forward.
"Sanctions do not provide a fundamental solution to the Iranian nuclear
issue. Ultimately, this issue has to be appropriately resolved through
peaceful negotiations," Yang said at a joint news conference with Britain's
David Miliband following their discussions in Beijing.
With Russia appearing to move closer to supporting new sanctions, China -
which depends on Iran for much of its energy needs - would be the only one
of five veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council members opposed to the
measures.
Further punishment of Iran is among a host of issues dividing the nations,
whose relations deteriorated badly last December after China ignored
personal appeals from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to execute
53-year-old Akmal Shaikh for drug smuggling.
Shaikh's family said he was mentally unstable and was lured to China from a
life on the street in Poland by men playing on his dreams to record a pop
song for world peace. - AP

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 17 Mar.'10:"Indonesian new militant group recruits
fighters",Associated Press
QUOTE: Southeast Asian militants are adapting even amid a Western-funded
crackdown
WEBANDA ACEH, Indonesia - From the safety of a forest camp, a commander of a
new Indonesian militant group looks into a camera and ridicules the
notorious extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah: They are not violent enough,
come and join us, he shouts, an automatic rifle in one hand.
The emergence of the previously unknown group calling itself Al-Qaeda in
Aceh shows how Southeast Asian militants are adapting even amid a
Western-funded crackdown that began following the 2002 Bali nightclub
bombings and has taken out scores of top leaders.
The group's criticism of Jemaah Islamiyah is further evidence of the split
in Indonesian extremist networks between militants supporting Al-Qaeda-style
attacks inside the country and those who believe such attacks hurt the
longer-term aim of establishing a Muslim state in Southeast Asia.
The speech is contained on a 75-minute training, recruitment and propaganda
video obtained by The Associated Press from a person not affiliated with the
militant group.
It contains scenes of about 15 militants exercising on monkey bars, shooting
automatic weapons and preaching in a makeshift camp in Aceh that was raided
last month by anti-terrorist police. - AP

+++SOU RCE: NAHARNET (Lebanon) 17 Mar.'10:"Wahab Unleashes Rage on Suleiman,
Asks him to Resign"

FULL TEXT:Tawheed[IMRA: Mainly Druze supporterss] movement leader Wiam Wahab
on Wednesday(17 Mar) slammed President Michel Suleiman and asked him to
resign for allegedly failing to govern the country.
Following talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in Rabiyeh,
Wahab said the president should resign "because after two years of rule we
feel like we are in the last days of the presidency."
"The consensus president in Lebanon is not successful," Wahab said,
stressing that he wasn't attacking the seat of the presidency but the
president himself.
The former minister stressed that his stance did not reflect that of Aoun.
He also criticized the Taef accord for limiting the powers of the head of
state. The president is supposed to monitor all authorities and
constitutional institutions in Lebanon, Wahab said.
=======
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA