Excerpts: Iranian interference in Gulf. Turkey's Erdogen to press Assad to
make reforms. Syria tightens security April 03, 2011

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 3 April '11:"GCC ministers to discuss Iranian
interference",FAHEEM AL-HAMID

SUBJECT: Iranian interference in Gulf

QUOTE:" 'Other Arab countries ...such as Yemen,Syria and Libya, will also be
discussed in the (GCC) meeting' "

FULL TEXT:JEDDAH: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers are
holding an exceptional meeting in Riyadh Sunday[3 April] to look at the
“rapid developments” occurring in the Arab arena.
The Secretariat General of the GCC issued a statement Saturday[2 April]
saying that the meeting to be chaired by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, will look at the “rapid developments being witnessed in the
Arab world and the region generally,” as well as “other regional and
international developments”.
Gulf sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the foreign ministers would look
at the situations in Bahrain and Iranian interference in the Gulf.
“The Kuwaiti delegation will also address ministers on developments related
to the Iranian spy network which Kuwait has recently finished investigating
and which resulted in death sentences to two Iranians and one Kuwaiti,” they
said.
They added that the Bahraini minister of foreign affairs would brief the
meeting on developments in his country, particularly the mediation being
conducted by Bahraini Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa with
the Bahraini opposition.
“Other Arab countries still experiencing disturbances and a wave of
protests, such as Yemen, Syria and Libya, will also be discussed in the
meeting,” the sources said.
The new Secretary General of the GCC, Abdul Latif Al-Zayyani, will be
present at the meeting, having assumed the position after Abdul Rahman
Al-Attiya reached the end of his term of service.
On Friday, the Kingdom condemned a statement issued by Iranian authorities
calling on Saudi Arabia to pull its forces out of Bahrain and describing the
Saudi policy in the Gulf as “playing with fire”.
An official source said, “It condemned in strong terms the irresponsible
statement issued in the name of the Committee for National Security and
Foreign Policy of the Council of Iranian Islamic Shoura which described the
Saudi policy in the Gulf region as playing with fire and demanded the
Kingdom to withdraw its forces from Bahrain,” SPA reported.
“The statement ignores the Iranian interference in the internal matters of
the countries in the region violating the sovereignty and independence of
those countries. It also attempts to stoke sedition and incite trouble with
hostile policies contravening international laws and norms and principles of
good neighborliness. The latest instance of Iran’s brazen interference was
in Kuwait where it used a network, linked to the Iranian mission, to plot
against that country,” the source said.
— Okaz/ Saudi Gazette /Saudi Press Agency __

+++Subject: Saudi Arabia fights domestic terror

SOURCE: Jordan Times 3 April '11:"Golan Druze rally for Syria's Assad",
Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Golan Druze pro-Assad rally

FULL TEXT:OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) - At least 2,000 Druze in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights demonstrated on Saturday[2 April] in a show
of support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israeli news website Ynet
reported. It said that marchers in the village of Buqata carried giant
Syrian flags and portraits of Assad, whose security forces have been dealing
harshly with protesters demanding political reform, killing at least nine
people on Friday. "We came out today to support the leader of our homeland,
whom people are trying to hamper in running the country," Ynet quoted Golan
resident Yosef Safdi as saying. Israeli police did not intervene other than
to direct traffic away from the demonstration route, it added. In the Golan
Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and unilaterally
annexed in 1981, there are about 18,000 Syrian nationals, most of them
Druze. Syria and Israel remain technically in a state of war. Followers of a
breakaway sect of Islam concentrated in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, the
Druze are not considered Muslims by most of the Islamic world.

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 3 April '11:"Saudi Arabia tries 5,080 'terror'
suspects", Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Saudi Arabia fights domestic terror

QUOTE:A total of 5,080 'terror' suspects are being tried or have already
been sentenced in Saudi Arabia"

FULL TEXT:RIYADH (AFP) - A total of 5,080 "terror" suspects are being tried
or have already been sentenced in Saudi Arabia, which battled a wave of Al
Qaeda attacks in 2003-2006, the kingdom's prosecutor said Saturday[2 April].
A court specialised in "terror crimes" has issued its verdicts in the case
of 1,612 people, while 603 other cases are still being examined, the Bureau
of Investigation and Prosecution said in a statement carried by SPA state
news agency. Prosecutors were also preparing charges against 934 suspects,
while still investigating the cases of 1,931 others before referring them to
the court, it said. "The total number of terror suspects... is 5,080," said
the statement. The Riyadh court, which operates secretly, was set up to try
those suspected of links to Al Qaeda jihadist network. The government has
arrested scores of people for alleged involvement in Al Qaeda attacks or
plots inside Saudi Arabia, especially between 2003 and 2006.

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 3 April '11:"'Erdogan will prod Assad on reforms'
",Reuters

SUBJECT: Turkey's Erdogen to press Assad to make reforms

QUOTE: Turkey's P.M. Erdogan said he would press Syria's President Assad to
defuse unrest by making reforms"

EXCERPTS:ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said he would press Syria's President Bashar Assad to defuse unrest by
making reforms sought by the Syrian people when he speaks to him on Monday,
newspapers reported on Saturday[2 April].
"Beyond governmental change, there were expectations on removal of emergency
rule, release of political prisoners and a new constitution," Erdogan told
journalists who accompanied him on Friday[1 April] on his way back from an
official visit to London.
"If those expectations do not take place, we will say this to Mr Assad on
Monday[4 April]," Erdogan was quoted as saying in a report published by the
Hurriyet newspaper.
Erdogan has spoken by telephone with Assad twice since trouble first broke
out in Turkey's southeast neighbour last month.. . .
A week ago the Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement calling for
political and economic reforms in Syria and restraint in dealing with
protests.. . .
Erdogan said Turkey was watching the Syrian people's reaction to Assad's
speech [30 March] and actions so far.
Turkey's longest land border is with Syria. Asked whether there was a danger
that Turkey could be flooded with people fleeing the unrest across the
border to Turkey, Erdogan said: "I hope not. Otherwise this will create
difficulties for us."
Relations between Turkey and Syria have improved markedly since Erdogan's AK
Party came to power. The two countries had come close to war in the late
1990s over Syrian support for Kurdish militants fighting against the Turkish
state.

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 3 April '11:"Syria tightens security following
protests",Associated Press
SUBJECT: Syria tightens security

QUOTE:"The extraordinary wave of protests have proved the most serious
challenge yet"

FULL TEXT:BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian security agents tightened security and made
sweeping arrests Saturday[2 April] as President Bashar Assad tried to cut
off two weeks of deadly pro-democracy demonstrations that are threatening
his rule.
The death toll from two weeks of protests was around 80 people, after at
least seven were killed Friday[1 April] in clashes with security forces.
Authorities began arresting dozens of people, mostly in and around the
capital, Damascus, in the hours after the protests broke up and into early
Saturday[2 April], activists said.
They asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisals.
The extraordinary wave of protests has proved the most serious challenge yet
to the Assad family's 40-year dynasty.
In the city of Douma, near Damascus, security forces were taking strict
measures and checking identity cards of people trying to enter or leave, a
resident said. At least five people were killed in Douma on Friday[1 April].
"Some shops are open but there is tension. Many people are staying home,"
the resident said on condition his name not be published for fear of
government reprisals. "There are a lot of security patrols. I have never
seen Douma like that."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about the violence
and called on Syria's government to address the "legitimate aspirations of
the Syrian people".
The government blamed Friday's[1 April] bloodshed on "armed gangs". However,
the state-run news agency acknowledged for the first time that Syria was
seeing gatherings of people calling for reform.
The strength of the burgeoning protest movement is difficult to gauge
because Syria has restricted media access and expelled journalists, making
it difficult to determine the extent of the protests and how many people are
turning out.
Assad has made limited gestures of reform in the wake of the protests, but
he has offered no specifics.
In his first public appearance Wednesday[30 March] since the demonstrations
began, he blamed a “foreign conspiracy” for the unrest.
He then announced he was forming committees to look into civilian deaths and
the possibility of replacing Syria’s emergency laws, which have been in
place for decades and allow security forces to arrest people without charge.
His reaction enraged many Syrians who hoped to see more serious concessions
after the wave of protests in a country where any rumblings of dissent are
crushed.
===============================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA