Saudi King Abdullah warned on Saturday that the situation in the Middle East -- from the Palestinian territories to the Gulf -- was potentially explosive and likened it to a powder keg.
"Our Arab region is surrounded by dangers," said the monarch at the opening of a summit for leaders of the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries. "It is like a keg of gunpowder waiting for a spark to explode."
Palestinians were fighting among themselves, and Iraq "is about to slip into the darkness of strife and mad struggle," and so is Lebanon, King Abdullah said.
Following the Saudi monarch's speech, the leaders began a closed session.
The summit will discuss how to head off escalating dangers that threaten to spill over into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the spiraling sectarian violence in Iraq and the nuclear standoff that pits a defiant Iran against the West.
The two-day GCC meeting in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, is also expected to discuss a US advisory panel's recent report and recommendations on Iraq, a Saudi diplomat said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
The GCC is a political and economic alliance gathering Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
The Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan US commission, released a report on Wednesday that called for the US to engage Syria and Iran in a diplomatic effort to stabilize Iraq.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal warned earlier this week that Iraq "poses a great challenge to the region, its security and its future" and called for "halting all forms of interference in Iraq" -- an apparent reference to Syria and Iran.
Each has ties with the major groups involved in Iraq's sectarian violence.
Iran has influence with Shiite Muslim parties that dominate the US-backed government and have militias blamed for much of the sectarian bloodshed.
Syria has links to Sunni Arabs, the main force in the insurgency, as the temporary home to many who have fled Iraq.
But both Iran and Syria deny supporting violence in Iraq. Iran Tehran is close to Shiite Muslim parties that dominate the government, while Damascus has ties to Sunni Arabs, their main rivals for power.
But Damascus and Tehran both deny US and Iraqi accusations that they support Arab insurgents and Shiite fighters operating in Iraq.
Kuwaiti columnist Youssef al-Rashed wrote Saturday he was alarmed by suggestions made by the Iraq Study Group because they could negatively affect his and other Gulf nations.
"If the US is unable to manage the situation [in Iraq] shrewdly, any sudden or premature pullout would result in a security vacuum that would affect us all," al-Rashed wrote in Kuwait's al-Anba daily.
Kuwaitis have expressed fears that the increasing Sunni-Shiite bloodshed in Iraq could spill over to their country that has a 30 percent Shiite minority. Similar concerns are shared by Saudi Arabia, which is up to 15 percent Shiite, and Bahrain, the tiny island kingdom ruled by Sunnis but with a Shiite majority.
Gulf countries also say they're worried about Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Iran is in a standoff with the West over refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
The US and some allies allege Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, and are pressing for sanctions against the Shiite Muslim country.
But Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed to press on with enrichment.
The Persian nation's first reactor in Bushehr -- across the Gulf from Saudi Arabia -- is projected to go on line late next year.
READINESS: According to a survey of 2,000 people, 86 percent of Swedes believe the country is worth defending in the event of a military attack Swedes are stocking up on food items in case of war, as more conflict in Europe no longer feels like a distant possibility, and authorities encourage measures to boost readiness. At a civil preparedness fair in southwest Stockholm, 71-year-old Sirkka Petrykowska said that she is taking the prospect of hostilities seriously and preparing as much as she can. “I have bought a camping stove. I have taken a course on preservation in an old-fashioned way, where you can preserve vegetables, meat and fruit that lasts for 30 years without a refrigerator,” Petrykowska said. “I’ve set aside blankets for warmth, I
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
‘ARMED CONFLICT’: At least 21 people have died in such US attacks, while experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers US forces on Friday carried out a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing four people, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said. The latest strike, which Hegseth announced in a post on X, brings the number of such US attacks to at least four, leaving at least 21 people dead. An accompanying video shared by Hegseth showed a boat speeding across the waves before being engulfed in smoke and flames. “Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed,” the Pentagon chief wrote. He said the strike “was conducted in international waters just off the
RSS