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| Europe |
| Gerhard Schröder called on Saudi business leaders to invest more in Germany. |
| 2005-02-28 |
| Continuing his tour of Gulf countries, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Monday called on Saudi business leaders to invest more in Germany. Speaking at a German-Saudi economic forum, the chancellor urged his audience to consider Germany -- and especially the country's eastern regions -- as a place to invest their money. "The German economy is definitely waiting for you to become active there as our friends and partners," Schröder said. At the same time, he also expressed his belief that "enormous possibilities" exist for German business in Saudi Arabia. Schröder said Germany had first class engineers and architects that could help to improve Saudi infrastructure. He added that German companies working abroad did a lot to train young local employees. While Schröder's comments were focused on future economic cooperation, a number of German business people were already able to sign treaties totaling â¬18 million ($23.8 million) for telecommunications and consulting services as well as the expansion of an airport. Much larger deals are expected to be finalized when Schröder visits the United Arab Emirates in the coming days. The Saudis and other Arab governments have expressed interest in German defense industry products including armored vehicles, helicopters and submarines. Germany has not delivered notable amounts of military goods to Saudi Arabia since 1991. Addressing human rights Berlin is often accused of putting business ahead of encouraging political reforms in the region. Human rights groups including Amnesty International have urged Schröder talk to his hosts about contentious civil rights issues while in the Islamic kingdom. "The Chancellor can't simply focus on economic relations with Saudi Arabia," Amnesty's Middle East expert Regina Spöttl told the DPA news agency. "The Chancellor should stand up for the abolishment of the death penalty." The German Foreign Ministry has pointed out that Schröder will be addressing the situation of political prisoners and lacking rights for women in Saudi Arabia. He is also sure to raise the latest Middle East peace efforts, stability in Iraq and the ongoing European negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. After talks with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Schröder praised the "cautious democratization" process under way in the country but said it did "not go far enough." Voters in eastern and southwestern Saudi Arabia will go to the polls in municipal elections on Thursday. While half of all council representatives will be elected, the other half will still be appointed by the authorities. Women cannot vote nor run for election. Celebrating 75 years of friendship Attending celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the German-Saudi friendship treaty in the Saudi capital Riyadh Sunday, Schröder praised efforts encouraging closer ties between Germany and the Arab world. He said Saudi Arabia's recent participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair and Deutsche Welle's Arabic language programming were important elements for intercultural dialogue. "That clearly shows that Germany and the Arab world are making serious efforts to come closer together," said Schröder, who will officially launch DW's Arabic TV service in Kuwait on Monday. "We can be very proud of this." The German-Saudi Friendship treaty was signed in Cairo in 1929 and ratified in 1930. It paved the way for diplomatic and consular ties between the two countries, which first exchanged ambassadors in the late 1930s. After spending two days in Saudi Arabia, Schröder will continue onward to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It will be his second visit to the region in the space of 18 months. |
| Posted by:TMH |
| #8 All the messed up stuff in the Crazy Kingdom, and all they could come up with is the Saudis need to do away with the death penalty? Maybe Ms. Spöttl and the rest of her colleagues actually like the idea of women being treated as chattel, or thieves getting an extremity or two amputated as punishment. But ze death penalty?? NEIN!!!! |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-02-28 12:29:29 PM |
| #7 The 1930-1945 period is a facinating time in Middle Eastern history: 1932 -- "In 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed by Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the first modern Muslim state, as Max Rodenbeck put it, that was the product of a jihad." 1935 -- "In November 1935, Syrian Islamic Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam died in a confrontation with British troops in Palestine after he and two followers killed a Jewish policeman. al-Qassam became one of the inspirational forces behind both the Islamic Jihad group and HAMAS during the first Palestinian Intifada ("uprising") in the late 1980's. al-Qassam was a fiery orator who called for the waging of jihad against Zionist, British, and French forces in the Middle East." 1937 -- "The Arab Higher Committee organized anti-Jewish riots in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. The British arrested the leaders, but the Mufti escaped to Europe where he proclaimed his support of Nazi Germany." 1938 -- "Americans, having been awarded a sixty year concession by Saudi Arabia to search for oil, made their first strike." 1941 -- "In Iraq, Rashid Ali, former prime minister, staged a nationalist coup on April 10, 1941 with the backing of the military, then turned to Nazi Germany for support. Thanks to the separate peace treaty the French Vichy government had struck with the Nazis in 1940, Nazi influence had begun to spread throughout the Middle East, mainly via the French Mandate areas of Syria and Lebanon. The emerging Baâath (âResurrectionâ) Party in Syria became attracted to some atavistic Nazi ideas, including anti-Semitism, that fit well with the Baâathists' own fantasies of restoring a glorious Arab and Muslim past." 1945 -- "On February 14, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Saudi Arabia's King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud met on board the American warship Quincy in the Suez Canal and agreed that the U.S. would protect the kingdom militarily in exchange for Saudi concessions to develop the country's oil resources (meaning a reasonably priced supply of oil for the United States for the foreseeable future)." Source: http://www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/mehistorydatabase/later_mandate_period_and_world_w.htm |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-02-28 11:58:55 AM |
| #6 "The Chancellor canât simply focus on economic relations with Saudi Arabia," Amnestyâs Middle East expert Regina Spöttl told the DPA news agency. "The Chancellor should stand up for the abolishment of the death penalty." Once again, AI shows it's true colors! All the messed up stuff in the Crazy Kingdom, and all they could come up with is the Saudis need to do away with the death penalty? Must be some good weed this FEMALE's smoking! She's female...what about them driving, voting, running for office, eh, AI? |
| Posted by: BA 2005-02-28 11:32:11 AM |
| #5 Hindenburg was president of the Weimar Republic until 1934. Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor in 1933 because he could not form a government without the Nazis, the largest party in the Reichstag. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-02-28 11:17:49 AM |
| #4 Tom...oooh..ouch. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-02-28 11:06:18 AM |
| #3 Well, future non-existence really, but the Germans haven't consciously thought through how that would happen and what would be the outcome, and the Saudis have. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-02-28 10:57:21 AM |
| #2 Your comment sent literal shivers down my spine, Tom. Let's don't forget, though, both countries share a similar opinion on the existence of Israel now. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-02-28 10:54:29 AM |
| #1 "The German-Saudi Friendship treaty was signed in Cairo in 1929 and ratified in 1930. It paved the way for diplomatic and consular ties between the two countries, which first exchanged ambassadors in the late 1930s." How macabre: a Saudi "friendship treaty" with the Nazis -- they had the desire for extermination of the Jews in common. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-02-28 10:36:56 AM |