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Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal attending the Annapolis conference Tuesday. (Reuters)
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ANALYSIS / Fear of Iran brought Arab leaders to Annapolis meet
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Annapolis 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Annapolis summit is the pinnacle of the process that started in the Middle East with the Second Lebanon War, and possibly even before that, with the revolution in the Gaza Strip.

The summit in the U.S. will perpetuate the rift exposed in the Arab and Islamic world since that war - between the extremist camp lead by Iran, and the more moderate Sunni camp lead by Saudi Arabia.

This does not mean that the pragmatic Sunni-Arab stream has turned into Israel-loving Zionists overnight; far from it.
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The Saudis came to Annapolis after much deliberation, as Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said. They showed up not because they love us, but because they hate the Iranians more.

The Saudis have no wish to normalize relations with Israel or even to shake hands with the Israelis. On Monday, Saudi embassy officials did not hesitate to throw out every last Jewish Israeli journalist who tried to cover the Arab foreign ministers meeting - while Israeli Arab reporters were allowed to stay. Who says there is no discrimination?

But the Arab countries' lukewarm statements concerning Israel are really only lip service to soften up public opinion back home. Sitting in the same hall as Israelis is not a trivial matter, but in the fight against Tehran over the future of the Middle East, even such an act has become kosher, as far as Riyadh is concerned.

Until a few months ago, Saudi Arabia was considered the Islamist Palestinian organizations' best friend, but now it is finding itself serving as their punching bag - on Iranian orders.

After falling out with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Riyadh is leading the Arab side at Annapolis and will therefore suffer heavy criticism from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"What is happening at Annapolis is a Arab-Zionist carnival for Israel's 60th [anniversary] celebration," said Islamic Jihad secretary general Ramadan Shallah. "The goal of the meeting is to lay the foundation for eliminating the Palestinian question with Arab blessings, in particular from Saudi Arabia."

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, added: "I object to the participation of several Arab delegations that are set to appear for the first time alongside the Zionist delegation in Annapolis."

This criticism is not expressed against Syria - even though it also is participating in the summit, possibly because Damascus is continuing its two-faced game. Despite its attendance, Syria refuses to distance itself from the Iranian axis.

But in certain aspects, the summit might turn out to be the kickoff for a divorce between Syria and Iran. During the Lebanon war, the two countries' interests still overlapped. However, this may not continue after Annapolis.

The Bush administration, owing its ally Saudi Arabia a deep debt, can draw encouragement from the summit's legacy, which will signal the general process in the Middle East: distancing Arab states from Iran, while pushing Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad far away from the pragmatic Sunni circle.

But despite the rare optimism that broke out Tuesday in Annapolis and the promises to finish negotiations on a permanent agreement by the end of 2008, peace is still a long way off.

The Saudis may have gotten what they asked for - a schedule for talks on a peace agreement - but the chances of seeing such a deal signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the White House lawn are unlikely to happen before the end of Bush's term, once the sides start their talks on the core issues, which seem impossible to solve.

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Full text of Bush, PM, and Abbas speeches, and joint statement
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  1.   Puppets and Masters 03:52  |  JJ 28/11/07
  2.   Fear of Iran is fallacious argument 03:54  |  Brod 28/11/07
  3.   Syria`s Foreign Minister called Tehran to say that they went to 03:59  |  lakshmi 28/11/07
  4.   "The core issues (...) seem impossible to solve." 05:48  |  Fortuna Benmayor 28/11/07
  5.   Duoble standard will not work 07:10  |  Wali 28/11/07
  6.   I Don`t Know 07:10  |  Yosemite 28/11/07
  7.   #2 - your `solution` is not even serious .. 08:16  |  redmike 28/11/07
  8.   We are afraid of Iran, so we are seeking a way to offend them 08:21  |  Natallie Durson 28/11/07
  9.   What about water ??? 08:41  |  keith 28/11/07
  10.   The new Three Stooges in Annapolis 09:03  |  Amir 28/11/07
  11.   The ship launched without a keel 09:44  |  Clickfool 28/11/07
  12.   lakshmi 09:58  |  Soraya 28/11/07
  13.   6 Keith - Desalination 09:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 28/11/07
  14.   Impossible to Solve?? 10:25  |  Yaakov Sullivan 28/11/07
  15.   knuckleheadClickfool, your beloved Hamas is doomed 10:30  |  Theodor 28/11/07
  16.   Arabs afraid of America attended the Conference 10:39  |  Adel 28/11/07
  17.   CFOOL.SHIP of fools needs intractable rejectionists 10:41  |  PETER SM 28/11/07
  18.   DURSON Fear of IRAN is founded in the Shia /Sunni historical hate 10:48  |  PETER SM 28/11/07
  19.   THE ARABS INFERIORITY COMPLEX 10:49  |  indrajaya 28/11/07
  20.   SHIITE IRAN armed to the teeth is a far greater threat to Sunnis 10:51  |  PETER SM 28/11/07
  21.   #2 - Brod. Sorry #7 was meant for #4 10:55  |  redmike 28/11/07
  22.   ARABS DON`T FEAR IRAN: WHY SHOULD THEY??? 10:56  |  TrippleJump 28/11/07
  23.   A little tin Zionist marches up and down, banging his drum # 15 10:58  |  Clickfool 28/11/07
  24.   Avi thinking like Gengis Khan 10:58  |  Dr D 28/11/07
  25.   Answering Peter SM # 17 11:01  |  Clickfool 28/11/07
  26.   Hand Shakes 11:38  |  The Teacher/Instruct 28/11/07
  27.   Fear: into the Shadows of a long Goodnight ! 12:01  |  Bl4ckP0pe 28/11/07
  28.   #12 Soraya 12:08  |  Shahin 28/11/07
  29.   Petersm 12:29  |  Shahin 28/11/07
  30.   to keith 12:36  |  Joe 28/11/07
  31.   PETER SM 13:00  |  JJ 28/11/07
  32.   CFOOL.Your"judgment"of who endangers what? like Mossad &Johntson? 13:02  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  33.   CFOOL.Your"judgment"of who endangers what? like Mossad &Johntson? 13:02  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  34.   TRIPPLE JUMP.Why Arabs fear Iran?Because Shiites kill Sunnis 13:07  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  35.   SHAHIN The Catholic Church absolved Jews,You know better? 13:33  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  36.   JJ "Arab dictators" what do you call the Mullahs in Iran? 13:40  |  PETER S .M. 28/11/07
  37.   Indrajaya,clickfool,natalie,friends,one important point only the 13:47  |  lakshmi 28/11/07
  38.   12Soraya,while I do not condone the violation of human rights in 13:51  |  lakshmi 28/11/07
  39.   Almost NO nuclear activity amongst Arabs till Shiite Iran started 13:54  |  PETER S .M. 28/11/07
  40.   PETER Siite clergy absolved Sunnis too 14:00  |  Shahin 28/11/07
  41.   To indrajaya # 19 14:00  |  Klaudia 28/11/07
  42.   Dynamics Changed Because of US War 14:06  |  Jane 28/11/07
  43.   I AM NOT SURE THAT YR. ANALYSIS 14:14  |  Robert 28/11/07
  44.   Peter SM#34...... DON`T EVEN COUNT ON IT 14:15  |  TrippleJump 28/11/07
  45.   Peace with Arabs? Heh, heh, heh. What are some people smoking? 15:12  |  common sense 28/11/07
  46.   Do all parties want Bush strike Iran? 15:45  |  Annie McCarthy 28/11/07
  47.   25 Clickky will "lay into either side that disturbs the peace" 15:52  |  The Equalizer 28/11/07
  48.   Re Click #25 16:27  |  Esther 28/11/07
  49.   #37 17:10  |  B 28/11/07
  50.   To Brod Perpetrator of conspiracy theories 17:17  |  jpudentain 28/11/07
  51.   Avi..You hit the NAIL on the HEAD... 17:19  |  Ali 28/11/07
  52.   #38 17:20  |  B 28/11/07
  53.   Indebted to Saudi Arabia? 17:26  |  B 28/11/07
  54.   # 23 Clickfool.A litle Zionist marches up &down,banging hid drum? 17:52  |  JOSH 28/11/07
  55.   #f For "B" Indebted to Saudi Arabia? 18:08  |  JOSH 28/11/07
  56.   #47 The Equalizer..re:Clickfool... 18:14  |  JOSH 28/11/07
  57.   #55 18:40  |  B 28/11/07
  58.   are not the americans making the same mistake... again? 19:41  |  ravi 28/11/07
  59.   more reason for israel to wake up; and step up 20:10  |  eric 28/11/07
  60.   Fear of Iran 20:24  |  Steve Gure 28/11/07
  61.   there`s the carrot, next the stick 21:06  |  frenz 28/11/07
  62.   #60 Steve Gure 21:13  |  tbora 28/11/07
  63.   SHAHIN.Shiites & Suniis have stopped killing each other have they 21:31  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  64.   TRIPPLEJUMP The Arabs ALL suddenly developed a neeed for nuclear 21:34  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  65.   SHAHIN There was never any doubt about who actually killed Ali 21:36  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  66.   For Peter SM # 32 21:46  |  Clickfool 28/11/07
  67.   The Automatic Translation Machine writes to Talkback ~ 56 21:54  |  Clickfool 28/11/07
  68.   Sunni and Shia 22:04  |  Palestinian Brit 28/11/07
  69.   Iran - a red herring. 22:07  |  Palestinian Brit 28/11/07
  70.   PALBRIT.Long range Iran missiles.That`s what the rest of world 23:49  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  71.   #59eric in a sand storm in new mexico 23:53  |  victor hardman 28/11/07
  72.   PALBRIT.BUSH is not forcing Shia/Sunni to kill each other 23:55  |  PETER.SM 28/11/07
  73.   CFOOL Just like the Mossad kidnapped Johnstone 23:58  |  PETER S.M. 28/11/07
  74.   Back to #70 00:02  |  Bill 29/11/07
  75.   # 3 Lakshmi on Syrian lapdogs 00:10  |  Lynn 29/11/07
  76.   # 9 keith about the water 00:15  |  Lynn 29/11/07
  77.   # 16 Adel of Bahrain...just a question, so glad you 00:19  |  Lynn 29/11/07
  78.   CFOOL @66 Preparing the cop out.Hamas stands for NO peace 00:26  |  PETER S.M. 29/11/07
  79.   # 28 Shahin 00:28  |  Lynn