Posted on 11/06/2002 11:22:54 PM PST by swarthyguy
New Delhi, November 6 After the lid has been blown off from the Pakistan-North Korea nexus on nuclear weapons cooperation, a similar clandestine cooperation is understood to be on between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with China playing a key role in the murky behind-the-scene international power games.
According to reports received here through diplomatic channels, Saudi Arabia has been secretly involved for years in funding Pakistan’s missile and nuclear programme purchases from China.
In the past few years, China, which has a declared ambition of becoming a world superpower by the year 2025, has cleverly dovetailed its foreign policy, energy strategy and military and security imperatives in such a way that its clout with the oil-producing countries has gone up significantly. A clear example of it is that while until 1995 China was a net exporter of oil, in 2001, it imported over 60 million tonnes of ‘black gold’.
The closeness between Islamabad and Riyadh has been phenomenal and cuts across party affiliations or the political set-up in Pakistan. It is not without significance that the first foreign tour of Gen Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup on October 12, 1999, was to Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Mr Sharif himself, his younger brother and their families are living in Saudi Arabia after a secret deal between General Musharraf and Mr Sharif in which Riyadh had played a key role.
During Mr Nawaz Sharif’s aborted prime ministerial tenure, Saudi Arabia had been funding Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programme purchases from China. It is significant to note in this context that the North Korean missiles (red missiles painted green by Pakistan) trade-off for transfer of Pakistani nuclear arsenal know-how in the late nineties took place at a time when the Pakistani economy was in shambles. It is understood that Saudi Arabia bailed Pakistan out from this financial crisis, which some in diplomatic circles take as Saudi’s funding of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programme purchases from China.
The Islamabad-Riyadh close cooperation was evident shortly after Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May, 1999, when Saudi Prince Sultan visited Pakistan and toured the uranium-enrichment plant and missile-production facilities at Kahuta.
According to international strategic analysts, if these reports are correct, it connotes two things. One, Saudi Arabia has given money to China for Pakistan’s missile and nuclear programme which means Riyadh could well be buying a nuclear capability from Beijing through a proxy state --Pakistan.
Secondly, it also means that Saudi Arabia could leapfrog to the status of a de facto nuclear state the day it wishes to buy a few shipments from Pakistan.
Saudis hail new trade with Baghdad - Delegation plays key role at international fair
Dania Saadi
Daily Star staff
BAGHDAD: Youssef Aziz al- Bassam, a Saudi national, puffs his nargileh in a bustling Baghdad coffee shop and takes a long breath to announce some important news. “We will soon be able to talk directly via telephone with Baghdad,” said Bassam. A former pilot in the Saudi Air Force, Bassam cannot contain the excitement of communicating again with a neighboring country that was once at war with US-led troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. Bassam , along with 100 topranking Saudi businessmen, officially reopened the common border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia last week, putting an end to a 12-year shutdown.
This was the highest-ranking Saudi delegation to come to Iraq since the Gulf War.The trip came with official Saudi blessing as it was led by the head of the Saudi Export Development Center, Abdulrahman al- Zamil, a Saudi minister.
The border point of Jdeidat Arar, southwest of Baghdad, was the site of the Saudi-Iraqi rapprochement that was given a nudge by the encounter between Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and the vice-chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council, Izzat Ibrahim, during the Arab League summit last March.
“I am not a politician,” said businessmen Saffah al-Ohaly, “but the summit certainly opened the gateway for an official cover for the delegation.” The delegates crossed the border to participate in the 10- day Baghdad International Fair, which opened on Nov. 1. Some 60 Saudi firms participated for the first time since the Gulf War. Saudi-Iraqi ties have been improving gradually over the past years. Saudi businessmen have been flocking in and out of Baghdad since 1998, participating in Iraqi tenders under the UN “oil-for-food” program or dealing directly with traders, although the countries have not had official diplomatic ties. The Saudi private sector had long been pushing to regain a segment of a market that once fed on Saudi goods. The Saudi delegates were not disappointed in their visit.
They were greeted by two Iraqi ministers and a river of rain mixed with the blood of several sheep that were slaughtered in their honor at the border. “In the space of two days, the Iraqi authorities registered around 95 Saudi industrial and trade firms to enable them to take part in government tenders,” said Zamil. “We have signed during this visit contracts worth at least $40 million. (Iraqi) Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh has also promised each participant in the fair will go home with a contract.”
Saudi trade with Iraq under the oil-for-food program has topped $1.1 billion and Saudis say the re-opening of the border can easily double business. “The Saudi delegation’s visit constitutes a quantum leap for future deals,” said Saleh. In 2001 alone, Saudi contracts reached some $300 million and they have reached some $360 million this year, according to Zamil. “We expect the number of Saudi firms doing business in Iraq to doubled to 160 next year,” said Zamil. “There are around 800 exporting firms in Saudi Arabia that can easily serve the Iraqi market.”
Saudis are pinning hope this rapprochement will lead to the signing of a free-trade agreement with Iraq,which so far has clinched 10 such deals with other Arab countries. Three members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – have signed such deals and have become the top three Arab exporters to Iraq. But neither Saleh nor Zamil wished to get into the details about the possibility of signing any such agreement in the near future. “Tariffs between Saudi Arabia and Iraq are currently at 50 percent under the Greater Arab Free Trade Area,” said Zamil.“In just two years,they will go down to zero, so why the hurry?” The border opening is bad news for Jordan. Before the re-opening of the Saudi-Iraqi borders,Saudi merchants had to ship their goods through Jordan, which levied high transit fees. “Direct transportation will save at least 12 percent in expenses for any Saudi exporter,” said Zamil. Although the Saudi-Iraqi border point is not yet open for commercial traffic, the Saudis believe it is only a matter of time before it becomes an international gateway for goods. “I expect the border point to be open in two weeks time for commercial traffic, once UN inspectors are appointed,” said Zamil. “Once it is open, it will certainly become an international route.” The Iraqi officials were first reluctant to have the UN inspectors at the border point, but doing business with Saudi Arabia appeared too enticing.
The Jordanian border, a number of Saudi and Iraqi officials said, has been semi-closed in recent weeks after tough UN inspections at the Jordanian side has reduced traffic. “I do not know how this will affect Jordan,” said Zamil. “The important thing is to be reconnected again. Before the closing of the borders, Saudi trucks would stand in line for 4 kilometers just to get in.” Iraqis do not seem to mind dealing with Saudis despite the checkered past. “Bygones are bygones,” said Ali, an Iraqi taxi driver. “The important thing is to be able to go in and out and visit the holy sites.”
Ping. (This is from the Indian press.)
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