Vital Perspective

Non-Royal Saudi to be Appointed as Kingdom's Top Diplomat to Washington

Saudi Arabia has informed the State Department that it intends to appoint Adel al-Jubeir, 44, as the new ambassador to Washington. Jubeir, who is one of King Abdullah's closest foreign policy advisers, is a well-known figure in Washington who was put out front by the kingdom in an effort to dissociate the Saudi royal family from al-Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks by Osama bin Laden.

In an appearance last year on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Jubeir disputed reports that bin Laden is still widely popular in the kingdom. "You can talk to radicals in Europe and they'll tell you that their agenda is very popular with the masses when, in fact, it's not," he said. "If Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia were popular, we would see an increase in recruitment, not a decrease. We would see an increase in their ability to do damage, not a decrease... We are winning the war on terrorism. It will take time, though."

Steve Clemons notes that Abdullah met the relatively young Jubeir in Washington some years ago -- when he was Director of Communications at the Embassy. His brother, Nail al-Jubeir, now holds the very same position in Saudi Arabia's Washington Embassy. When King Abudullah was Crown Prince he briefly met Jubeir on a trip to the U.S. and subsequently requested that he become his foreign policy advisor.

The appointment represents a meteoric rise for a man who last served in Washington as special assistant to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, now the Saudi national security adviser. His is a graduate of the University of North Texas and Georgetown University.

First Lady Announces New Direction for U.S.-Afghan Women's Council at Gala

Here's an interesting story from the Diplomatic Pouch. On December 4, Ariana Outreach of Virginia and International Orphan Care of Los Angeles hosted the first Afghan and American Sisterhood Award Gala to highlight the plight of the Afghan people and the union of Afghan and American women. Members of Capitol Hill as well as first lady Laura Bush attended to celebrate Afghan women and their ties with Americans. Earlier that day, Bush announced a formal partnership between Georgetown University and the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.

Bush said the council's various initiatives have already helped women reclaim "their place with men at the center of Afghan society. With the support of Georgetown, the council will work to improve the lives of even more women in Afghanistan."

Humira Noorestani, founder of Ariana Outreach, said she was impressed by the turnout at the inaugural gala, which featured more than 200 guests. "The Afghan Diaspora has been present for 25 plus years, yet they do not have a real voice in Washington. As an Afghan-American woman, I will not allow my country to crumble again," she said.

Rice Displeased with Qatar Paying Salaries of Palestinian Authority Workers

MediaLine reports that the Bush administration has expressed its displeasure with plans for Qatar to pay the salaries of educational and health workers employed by the Palestinian Authority. Secretary Rice will probably raise the issue with Qatari FM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani when she meets with him on Wednesday, according to spokesman Scott McCormack. The U.S. sees the Qatari gesture as a violation of an international ban on funding the Palestinian Authority as long as it is controlled by Hamas. The Quartet has set up a "temporary mechanism" to channel humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people while circumventing the Hamas-led government. Presumably, it would be acceptable for Qatar to carry out its pledge if the money is routed through that mechanism.

One American Among Group Arrested in Egypt for Plotting Terrorist Attacks

Egyptian police have arrested an American, 11 Europeans, and several others from Arab countries for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in Middle Eastern countries including Iraq. According to the Interior Ministry, the group was part of an Islamic terrorist cell that had adopted extremist ideas and was living in Egypt under the guise of pursuing Arabic and Islamic studies.

"Investigations have confirmed that those elements are related to some terrorist organizations abroad," the ministry said. "They were seeking to recruit others, teach them destructive beliefs, urging them for jihad, traveling to Iraq to carry out operations via other countries in the region."

In Washington, the State Department confirmed that an American had been arrested in Egypt about a week ago but could not provide any details. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said U.S. officials were "seeking consular access to this individual" but declined to give more information, citing U.S. privacy laws.

Former Secretary Powell Urges U.S. to Engage Diplomatically with Iran, Syria

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell does not believe the U.S. will attack Iran and says Washington should speak to Tehran and Syria. Powell made those remarks during the Leaders in London Business Forum on Thursday. "Iran is a regional power and it will have to be dealt with. We should find ways to speak to them and also speak to the Syrians," he said.

Obviously, Powell does not speak for President Bush anymore, but he could not see any circumstances which would cause a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. "We all agree that it's not a good thing for Iran to develop their nuclear program if it could develop nuclear weapons, but the United States is not going to attack Iran," he said. Instead, Powell said, the Bush administration would have to work with the UN and Russia to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Egyptian Intel Chief in Israel for Prisoner Release Talks Ahead of Rice Meetings

Omar Suleiman, the head of Egyptian intelligence, is visiting Israel for talks on a possible prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians. Suleiman held talks with senior Israeli officials Wednesday and met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. Hamas is demanding that Israel free 1400 Palestinian prisoners, including 400 women and minors in exchange for kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Earlier this week Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said he would hold direct talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but only after Shalit was freed. Secretary Rice plans to meet Abbas in Jericho on Thursday where talks are expected to focus on how to extend a ceasefire agreed to by Israel and the Palestinians on Sunday - and revive the internationally-backed "road-map" peace plan which calls for an eventual Palestinian state next to Israel. Israel Radio is reporting that Secretary Rice will also meet Olmert on Thursday.

Report: Zelikow Resigned Out of Frustration Over Middle East, Iran Efforts

There has been significant media reaction to the resignation of Philip Zelikow. State Department officials said yesterday that "this is one of those rare cases in Washington where someone is leaving on their own terms." However, it appears that he has not decided to leave public service for personal reasons, but for professional frustration.

The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler writes that Philip Zelikow's departure deprives Secretary Rice "of a key sounding board at a time when she is still searching for a new deputy and faces difficult challenges in the Middle East." Helene Cooper of the New York Times writes that Zelikow resigned because of what one official described as "frustration with the pace of the administration's diplomatic efforts on the Middle East, Iran and North Korea."

Palestinian Official: Rice to Meet Abbas Thursday; Olmert Has No Plans to Meet

Palestinian officials have reported that Secretary Rice will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a visit to the West Bank on Thursday. "They will meet in Jericho," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters on Tuesday.

The State Department said earlier this week that Rice, who is to attend an economic and development conference at a Dead Sea resort in Jordan, could also meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders amid efforts to build on a Gaza ceasefire. However, a spokeswoman for Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said there were no plans for him to meet Rice.

Hadley: Maliki to Press Bush in Upcoming Meeting to Not Engage Iran, Syria

Here's an interesting change of course in the internal debate of whether the U.S. will engage Iran and Syria. Earlier today, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley briefed the press aboard Air Force One and made the argument that the Maliki government would rather the U.S. not get involved with Iran and Syria since they were already holding talks with them. This came on the same day the State Department did its best to distance itself from reports of pending diplomatic engagement with arguments that "we are working with forces for moderation and forces that are interested in resolving differences peacefully via a negotiating table" and that "Syria and Iran have not been forces for stability or moderation in the region."

Q Is President Bush going to bring up the idea of embracing talks with Iran and Syria, with Maliki?

MR. HADLEY: I think you're going to find that Prime Minister Maliki is going to bring that up with the President. He has some strong views on that subject. As you know, the Iraqis have been talking to the Syrians, the Iraqis have been talking to the Iranians. Their view is that the future of Iraq, if it is a subject of conversation with Syrian and Iran, ought to be a conversation by Iraqis, not by others on the outside.

So this is a discussion that Iraqis have taken the lead on with both Iran and Syria, and want to take the lead on. And so I think it's a subject, actually, that Prime Minister Maliki is likely to bring up with the President.

Q So he'll say, basically, let us do this, don't you convene direct talks?

MR. HADLEY: I've said what he has said, I think, publicly. We'll see what else he says when the President and he get together.

Q Are you holding out --

Q But his point is he doesn't want the U.S. meddling in --

MR. HADLEY: I said what I said, which is what he said. And he's talked publicly about this, and I'll let his words speak for themselves.

Zelikow, Trusted Adviser to Rice on Middle East, to Resign from State Dept Post

Philip Zelikow, one of Secretary Rice's closest advisers on Iraq and the Middle East, plans to resign his post, a State Department official said on Monday. "He is going back to the University of Virginia at the beginning of the year," said the official, referring to Zelikow's former job.

Zelikow was involved in many of the major issues facing the U.S. In addition to Iraq and the Middle East, he helped craft U.S. policy on terror detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. In September he caused some ripples when he suggested during a speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that to build a coalition for dealing with Iran, the U.S. needed to make progress on solving the Arab-Israeli dispute.

"For the Arab moderates and for the Europeans, some sense of progress and momentum on the Arab-Israeli dispute is just a sine qua non for their ability to cooperate actively with the United States on a lot of other things that we care about," he said in the speech.

Asked whether his speech had contributed to the decision to leave, the official said this was not the case. "This is one of those rare cases in Washington where someone is leaving on their own terms," said the official.