Excerpts: Netanyahu re Congress planned speech. Iran outreach to Saudi
Arabia. US,India civilian nuclear power agreement. IS: Jordan free terrorist
for Japanese hostage. US,Saudi Arabia uneasy allies January 25, 2015

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 25 Jan.’15:”Netanyahu defends planned Congress
speech as anti-Iran strategy: by Dan Williams-Reuters
SUBJECT:Netanyahu re Congress planned speech
QUOTE:”Prime Minister Netanyahu:’I will go anywhere I am invited to make the
State of Israel’s case and defend its future and existence’ “
FU LL TEXT:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended on Sunday[25
Jan.] a planned speech to the U.S. Congress about Iran, saying he had a
moral obligation to take every opportunity to speak out on an issue that
poses a mortal threat to his country.

His visit to Washington in March has opened up a political rift in the
United States and has drawn accusations in Israel that Netanyahu is
undermining a strategic alliance to win an election due two weeks after the
trip.

Briefing his cabinet on the speech to be made on March 3 to a joint meeting
of Congress, Netanyahu said his priority was to urge the United States and
other powers not to negotiate an Iranian nuclear deal that might endanger
Israel.

“In coming weeks, the powers are liable to reach a framework agreement with
Iran, an agreement liable to leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state,” he
said in remarks carried by Israeli broadcasters.

“As prime minister of Israel, I am obligated to make every effort to prevent
Iran from getting nuclear weaponry that will be aimed at the State of
Israel. This effort is global and I will go anywhere I am invited to make
the State of Israel’s case and defend its future and existence.”

John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives,
invited Netanyahu without informing the Obama administration, in what the
White House deemed a breach of protocol.

Netanyahu, a right-winger who has a testy relationship with Barack Obama,
will not meet the president during his visit.

Obama has often sparred with Netanyahu over strategy on Iran and the
Palestinians.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, while siding with Netanyahu,
acknowledged the problematic handling of the event.

“There have certainly arisen questions here that should be worked out
between us and the Americans, between the administration and Congress,”
Yaalon told Israel’s Army Radio.

“We have no intention of causing offence. We have no intention of causing
harm.”

The White House has cited the proximity of Israel’s March 17 election and a
desire to avoid the appearance of influencing the poll as reason for
withholding an Oval Office invitation.

Netanyahu’s rightist Likud party is running neck-and-neck in
opinion polls with center-left Labor.

“Netanyahu is directly harming the president of the United States. What
Netanyahu is doing with this thuggish behavior is to harm Israel’s security
interests,” Labor leader Isaac Herzog told Army Radio


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazettte 25 Jan.’15:”Iran foreign minister:Outreach to
Saudi Arabua ‘necessary’ “,Associated Press

SUBJECT: Iran outreach to Saudi Arabia

QUOTE:”Iran F.M. :outreach to Saudi government ‘prepares the ground for more
cooperation in all areas’ “
FULL TEXT:TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister says his outreach to Saudi
Arabia after the death of the kingdom's ruler was "necessary."

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was among the first foreign
dignitaries to visit Saudi Arabia following the death Friday of King
Abdullah.

Zarif says he hopes his outreach to the Saudi government "prepares the
ground for more cooperation in all areas in this very sensitive region based
on good neighborliness and rationalism."

Zarif made the comments Sunday[25 Jan.] at a news conference in Tehran with
Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic. — AP



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon)25 Jan.’15:”Modi, Obama Announce Nuclear
Breakthrough after Talks”,Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: US,India civilian nuclear power agreement
FULL TEXT:Indian Prime Minister Narendra and U.S. President Barack Obama
announced they had reached an agreement Sunday[25 Jan.] to break the
deadlock that has been stalling a civilian nuclear power agreement.

"I am pleased that six years after we signed our bilateral agreement, we are
moving towards commercial cooperation, consistent with our laws (and)
international legal obligations," Modi said at a joint press conference with
Obama in the Indian capital New Delhi.

The two countries in 2008 signed a landmark deal giving India access to
civilian nuclear technology, but it has been held up by U.S. concerns over
India's strict laws on liability in the event of a nuclear accident.

While there were no immediate details on how the impasse had been broken,
India has reportedly offered to set up an insurance pool to indemnify
companies that build reactors in the country against liability in case of a
nuclear accident.

"Today we achieved a breakthrough understanding on two issues that were
holding up our ability to advance our civil nuclear cooperation and we are
committed to moving towards full implementation," said Obama.

"This is an important step that shows how we can work together to elevate
our relationship."



+++SOURCE:”Jordan Times 25 Jan.’15 :”Authorities verifying IS video offering
swap deal for Japanese hostage”, by Raed Omari-Reuters
SUBJECT:IS: Jordan free terrorist for Japanese hostage
FULL TEXT : AMMAN/TOKYO — Authorities were on Saturday[24 Jan.] verifying
the authenticity of a video purporting to have been released by the Islamic
State (IS), announcing it had killed one of two Japanese hostages they were
holding and demanding that Jordan free an Iraqi female terrorist in return
for the other hostage.

On Saturday[24 Jan., Japan’s government said a recording appeared to show
that the captive Haruna Yukawa had been killed by IS.

The audio recording apparently showed the other Japanese captive Kenji Goto,
a reporter, as saying the militants would release him in exchange for the
release of Al Qaeda-linked attempted female suicide bomber Sajida Rishawi,
an Iraqi held in Jordan.

Rishawi is an Iraqi woman who was captured in connection with a failed
suicide bombing at one of the hotels of Amman in 2005. According to court
documents, she was supposed to detonate an explosive belt after another
terrorist blew himself up, in an orchestrated Al Qaeda attack that targeted
two other hotels in the capital on November 9. More than 60 people died in
the attacks on three hotels, and Rishawi is on the death row.

A well-informed security source told The Jordan Times over the phone on
Saturday[24 Jan.] that authorities were working to determine the
authenticity of the audio that purported Goto as confirming the execution of
Yukawa by IS and unveiling the group’s willingness to exchange him for
Rishawi.

“We are now verifying the authenticity of the video and we will respond
accordingly,” the source, who requested anonymity, said, adding: “We will
issue a statement then to keep the public abreast of all developments.”

Reports and analysts have expected that IS would demand the release of
Rishawi and another detained Iraqi terrorist, Ziad Al Karboli, in return for
detained Jordanian pilot Muath Kassasbeh, whose plane crashed in Syria and
was taken hostage late last year.

Earlier Saturday[24 Jan.], His Majesty King Abdullah received a telephone
call from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during which the King and Abe
“discussed means to boost bilateral cooperation and regional developments”,
according to the Royal Court.

In Tokyo, meanwhile, Abe called for the immediate release of the Japanese
journalist held by IS.

Yukawa was seized by militants in August, after he went to Syria in what he
described as a plan to launch a security company. Goto, a veteran war
correspondent, went into Syria in late October seeking to secure Yukawa’s
release, according to friends and business associates.

The YouTube video showed an image of a gaunt Goto in an orange T-shirt and a
recording of what appeared to be him speaking in English.

“We are using every diplomatic channel and means to work towards a release,”
Abe told reporters in brief remarks after a hastily called meeting with his
foreign, defence and other ministers.

“This act of terrorism is an outrageous and unacceptable act of violence,”
Abe said. “I feel a strong sense of anger and firmly condemn this. I again
strongly demand the immediate release of Mr Kenji Goto unharmed.”

US intelligence agencies were working to verify the authenticity of the
recording, US National Security Council deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell
said in a statement.

A deadline by IS militants for Japan to pay a $200 million ransom for Yukawa
and Goto expired on Friday[23 Jan.].


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 25Jan.’15: “ US,Saudi Arabia uneasy allies in
turbulent Middle East”,Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: US,Saudi.Arabia uneasy allies

QUOTE:”the unlikely allies remain bound by mutual interests in regional
stability and oil”

FULL TEXT :WASHINGTON — Long-standing ties between the United States, the
world’s oldest democracy, and Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative Islamic
absolute monarchy, have strained at times, but the unlikely allies remain
bound by mutual interests in regional stability and oil.

The depth of the complex relationship was highlighted late Thursday[22 Jan.]
as President Barack Obama mourned the loss of King Abdullah, saying he had
“appreciated our genuine and warm friendship” praising the late monarch as
both “candid” and “bold”.Full diplomatic relations between the United States
and the Gulf kingdom were established in 1940 during the throes of World War
II.

The partnership was sealed five years later in a historic meeting between
then-king Abdul Aziz Bin Saud and US president Franklin D. Roosevelt on
board the USS Quincy as it cruised the Suez Canal.

It was the discovery of vast oil reserves beneath Saudi sands in the late
1930s which secured the kingdom’s place as a vital partner for the
energy-hungry United States, despite early disagreement on the establishment
of Israel on the lands of British-mandated Palestine.

Indeed, at times Saudi Arabia has worked with Washington to advance US
interests in terms of oil flows and prices.

But there has been increasing unease in Riyadh about Obama’s pursuit of a
nuclear deal with archfoe Iran, as well as his commitment to energy
independence.

“The most important part about the relationship is that the two sides need
each other,” Marina Ottaway, senior Middle East scholar with the Woodrow
Wilson Centre, told AFP.

“Saudi Arabia continues to remain important to the United States in terms of
energy security ... and the Saudis have always felt in need of protection.”

Riyadh’s strategic location and unique spiritual authority as custodian of
Islam’s two holiest sites has meant it has been key in helping to shore up
stability in a turbulent Middle East.

‘Unparalleled cooperation’

When neighbouring Kuwait was invaded in 1990 by Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein, then-US president George H.W. Bush sent in more than 500,000 troops
and launched Operation Desert Storm using US air bases in Saudi Arabia as
vital staging posts.It was “a moment of unparalleled cooperation between two
great nations,” Bush said in a statement Thursday[22 Jan.], paying tribute
to his “dear friend” Abdullah.

But expert Ottaway said the Saudi royals never truly forgave Washington for
the subsequent overthrow of Saddam in the second Gulf War in 2003, which
they “feel was a major blunder... because it opened the door to Iranian
influence”.

Ties had strained too after the September 2001 attacks on New York, when it
was revealed that 15 of the 19 attackers were from Saudi Arabia“The
Saudis... could simply not believe that 15 of their sons had hijacked these
airplanes and done what they had done,” Robert Jordan, a former US
ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told National Public Radio.“They literally were
in denial.”

A series of bloody 2003 attacks in the kingdom proved the turning point,
turning Riyadh into a loyal and robust partner in the fight against Al
Qaeda.

Saudi warplanes were also among the first to fly alongside the US when it
began a series of airstrikes last September against Sunni militants from the
Islamic State group in Syria.

Underlying tensions flared last year, however, when top Saudi officials were
openly critical of America’s reluctance to intervene more forcefully in
Syria to oust long-time Saudi foe, President Bashar Assad.“The relationship
is not what it was... in a dynamic and changing environment in the Middle
East,” said Salman Sheikh, director of the Brookings Doha Centre.He pointed
to both Obama’s policies and the style of his administration, amid a failure
to make good on an early pledge to restore ties with the Muslim world.

Awaiting change

Ties were better under Bush and his son, president George W. Bush, as it was
“a relationship that was very much built on personal foundations,” Sheikh
contended.“In many ways a lot of Gulf leaderships are counting down the
clock to when this administration leaves and the next one comes,” he told
AFPThere’s nothing... that I would see that would make the relationship
improve, because the US president is not going to do the things they want
done,” agreed Karen Elliot House, an author and expert on Saudi Arabia
affairs.

The Sunni-Muslim majority kingdom remains wary of close US ties to Israel,
as well as Washington’s nuclear diplomacy with Shiite Iran, seen as Riyadh’s
“greatest external danger,” House told AFP.Political upheavals in Saudi’s
unruly neighbour Yemen, where Shiite Houthi rebels believed to be backed by
Iran have spread chaos, have upped the ante.

“There’s even more of a feeling in Gulf capitals that Iran is trying to
encircle them,” said Shaikh. “And this at a time when the US is seeking to
see how Iran could come back into the fold through the nuclear issue.”
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA