REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY AND SUADI FOREIGN MINISTER PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Remarks With Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
June 25, 2013

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Via interpreter) I would like to welcome His Excellency Mr. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, and his accompanying delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This, his third visit to the region, only asserts his personal concern with the region’s issues and the interests of the United States and those of its friends.

Secretary Kerry and I had a fruitful, constructive discussion today, just like we do in all of our transparent, open-minded meetings. We reviewed many regional and international issues, on top of which is the crisis in Syria and the developments on the Syrian, regional, and international arenas.

Perhaps the most ominous of these developments is the involvement of foreign forces, foremost of which is the motions of Hezbollah and others with support from Iran’s national guard in the mass murder of Syrians with unlimited military support from Russia. This critical turn of events cannot possibly be overlooked. Over and above the regime’s genocide against its own people, this adds an even deadlier element in the form of an all-out foreign invasion that breaks every international law, protocol, and principle. This violates the Syrian land and turns it into a battleground for global and regional conflicts and puts it under the mercy of sectarian struggles. Syria now can only be considered an occupied land. This requires a firm stand and speedy action from the international community. There no longer is rhyme or reason to let Russia’s open and fervent weaponization of the Syrian regime and the hordes of foreign forces backing it to go on unabated.

In the meantime, we are still failing to secure international protection for the Syrian people, or at least provide some sort of military assistance to help it defend itself against these abhorrent crimes being committed against it with nary an excuse. In this regard, the Kingdom demands a clear, unequivocal, international resolution that bans any sort of weaponry support for the Syrian regime, and declares null and void the legitimacy of that regime, which it had lost on day one of this crisis when it denied the simplest, most basic demands of its people, and waged a genocidal war against it instead. It lost its membership in both the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization, and the Gulf Cooperation Council had already reiterated its illegitimacy, a fact that has been further reaffirmed by the Friends of Syria meetings.

The regime’s illegitimacy eliminates any possibility of it being part of any arrangements or playing any role whatsoever in shaping the present and future of Syria, taking into consideration that the Syrian National Coalition now has the recognition of the international community as the sole representative of the Syrian people in its political and ethnic entirety. The Coalition is now ready to commence with the transitional ruling body with full-fledged authorities away from the pillars of the Syria regime and its cohorts who have blood on their hands.

At the same time, the Kingdom affirms the necessity of changing the balance of powers on the ground in favor of the Free Syrian people. This is the only way to bolster the chances of a peaceful solution, one that we will all seek at the upcoming Geneva 2 convention. I would like to commend the U.S. decision to send military aid to the Free Syrian Army, and express my relief for what I heard today from the U.S. Secretary of State concerning both changing the military balance of powers on the ground and maintaining the legitimacy of the Syrian National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people.

I shouldn’t forget to underline the European Union’s resolution to lift the ban on arming the Syrian opposition. I call upon the EU to immediately put the resolution into action to counter the serious current developments on the Syrian ground.

We also reviewed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the ongoing efforts to revive the peace process and the negotiations between the two sides. The Kingdom sees it vital that these efforts focus on resolving the conflict’s major issues after all else had failed at achieving any progress. All previous efforts had been dealing with the ramifications rather than the causes. Therefore there should be consensus towards a solution that is based on international resolutions and principles, agreements and understandings already signed, and the Arab Peace Initiative, so as to reach the goal of a sustainable, independent, and a contiguous Palestinian state.

I would like to thank the Secretary for his efforts in resolving this conflict, and we appreciate his efforts. Now I’d like to thank you all. The Secretary has the floor.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Your Royal Highness. Assalamu alaikum. It’s a privilege for me to be here again back in Saudi Arabia, and I’m happy to be in this very beautiful city, which is a great hub of innovation and a great history and the crossroads, obviously, for all the pilgrimage to Mecca, and important to the Kingdom. I’m particularly grateful to my friend, Prince Saud al-Faisal, for his welcome here. Always a great welcome and always a very enjoyable and frank conversation, and I respect and appreciate that.

As I think everybody knows, Saudi Arabia is one of our closest partners, and we are grateful for that. We work together on a host of key issues in the region, including the most important one of protecting stability for all of the countries in the region. And the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is critical, I think, to both of our countries.

So, first, I thank Saudi Arabia for its very important leadership and work within the Arab League and, in fact, internationally with the critical and sometimes not properly recognized initiative of His Majesty King Abdullah with the Arab Peace Initiative. This is a most important initiative. And while not everybody agrees with every portion of it, it is an effort, literally, to bring about peace, an offer of a future in which there is a normal set of relationships with real peace, with diplomatic recognition, commerce, trade, all that comes with that peace. And I think that the Arab League’s mission to Washington some weeks ago was an important step forward in helping to lay the groundwork for the possibility of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

We believe, President Obama believes, that those negotiations should start as soon as is possible, and hopefully that they should conclude with two states living side by side in peace and security. And he has sent me out here to this region on a number of different occasions now in order to work with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, but also with the neighbors, in order to try to bring about the conditions for negotiations to take place, and ultimately notwithstanding all of the turmoil, notwithstanding all of the conflict, notwithstanding all of the counter-indications, to be able to bring about peace.

We need to be able to do that. And we share a belief with Saudi Arabia and many countries that these next weeks are perhaps – or at least this next period of time is an important period of time where decisions could be made that could affect this region for years to come.

We also discussed, as His Royal Highness has said, the crisis of Syria. I join His Royal Highness in making clear that this is a crisis that has been made worse, a situation that’s been made far more difficult and complicated by Assad’s invitation to Iran and to Hezbollah, Iran’s surrogate, to cross lines – international lines – and to become engaged on the ground in Syria. It is the Assad regime that has internationalized the violence on the ground in the worst of ways. And I would remind people, as I think His Royal Highness has and would join me, that peaceful demonstrations that asked for small amounts of reform were met with violence in the very beginning, and it is that violence that has grown, and now, because of the Assad regime’s decision, been internationalized.

I expressed our appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s leadership within the region, within the Arab League, in efforts to try to help us to find a political solution. We believe that the best solution is a political solution in which the people of Syria have an opportunity to be able to make a choice about their future. And we believe that every minority can be respected, that there could be diversity and pluralism, and that people could do so in a climate of peace in the absence of oppression and violence or the involvement of foreign fighters, providing the Assad regime is prepared to live by the framework that was created in the Geneva communique for a transition government with full executive powers chosen by mutual consent of all the parties, which really has the best chance of bringing about peace in Syria. We continue to believe, as His Royal Highness referred to, that the Geneva 2 offers the best opportunity to be able to try to bring that about.

And as countries like the United States and Saudi Arabia aid the opposition, we do so with the belief that it is done in the effort to try to bring people to the decision to go to Geneva and respect the Geneva 1 communique. Earlier this week, we agreed in Doha to do more to aid the opposition in order to help bring that about. And the President of the United States has made the decision to do more, and today I came here to talk with His Royal Highness the Foreign Minister in order to understand better what Saudi Arabia will be doing, what the countries in the region will be doing, and how we can coordinate those efforts in the best way to bring about the solution that we all hope for.

Finally, let me commend Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council for their support of President Hadi and the people of Yemen in their ongoing national dialogue and their broader transition process. This is critical to the future of Yemen, to the future of the region, and we agreed that there are ways that we can cooperate further on that, and we will.

All of these concerns and everything that we discussed today, frankly, has global consequences. And that is why our partnership, the partnership between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is so essential. So I thank His Majesty, King Abdullah, and the I thank the Foreign Minister, my friend, Prince Saud al-Faisal for his welcome today, and I thank him most importantly for the serious purpose and serious discussion that he is engaged in and for the cooperation that we are both engaged in, in order to bring about peace and stability to this region.

Thank you, Your Royal Highness.

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and before I close, I would like to congratulate Prince Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the new prince of – the Emir of Qatar. And I would like to appreciate his father, Prince Hamad, for his efforts in developing Yemen and bolstering the relations between our two countries and our two peoples and his work on the issues of the region. And we pray for Qatar’s prosperity and advancement.

We will take your questions now.

MS. PSAKI: The U.S. question will be from Margaret Brennan of CBS News.

QUESTION: Margaret Brennan from CBS. Your Royal Highness, a lot has changed in terms of (inaudible) providing (inaudible). When will we see it make a difference on the ground? And (inaudible) that difference without outside military intervention? And Secretary Kerry, if you could explain more on how the U.S. is helping to coordinate on (inaudible) demonstration (inaudible). (Inaudible) Sergey Lavrov just said that (inaudible).

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Inaudible) and the corollary to that is (inaudible) a massive flow of money, of weapons to aid and abet (inaudible) genocide. This must end. And Saudi Arabia is not a country that interferes in internal affairs of countries. But an invaded country, where genocide is being perpetrated, is not a normal situation. And I can say with all clarity that we will help the Syrian people defend themselves. We will take our means we have – we are a small country. The aid we can provide is proportionate to our capabilities. But we will not stop helping them in the most effective way that we can, according to that capability.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, with respect to the (inaudible) technicalities of one particular type of aid versus another, or logistics, but it is obvious from the London 11 meeting that we had the other day, as well as from this meeting, that we are trying to coordinate. We’re trying to understand as well as possible what each nation is doing today, what they’re prepared to do, and obviously, how we can work in a way that isn’t at cross-purposes. We need to be coordinated. So that coordination effort was a subject of discussion today. And I think that given the fact that the President made the decision to provide additional assistance, we want to make sure that that’s being done in the most effective way possible.

We also wanted to – I wanted to hear from His Royal Highness the views of Saudi Arabia with respect to the strategy going forward, and larger concerns: What are the implications of Iran and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, being involved across international lines in another country, in effect managing a war for that country? What are the impacts on our friends who are neighbors, on Jordan, on Israel, on Lebanon, on Turkey? These are all important considerations, and sometimes one needs to sit face to face in order to have an opportunity to be able to better understand our friends’ thinking on these issues. And that’s exactly what we did.

With respect to Egypt and the demonstrations, first of all, demonstrations are a very legitimate form of expression for citizens in any country. And it’s imperative, we hope, that those demonstrations will be peaceful, that the government would respect them, and that the people will respect their fellow citizens. So that is an important principle on which to begin, but obviously Egypt is going through a very difficult period. We have made many recommendations to our friends in Egypt. We are trying to help, as other countries are trying to help, to create a place for the opposition to be part of the political process in order to create some economic reforms that will help attract business and capital and begin to move their economy. And I think it’s up to the citizens of Egypt to make decisions as to whether or not they feel that all of those kinds of reforms and initiatives are taking place in a way that meets their needs.

That’s not our – that’s – we’re not involved in that. That’s their choice. This demonstration is spontaneous and comes from the Egyptian people. We hope that it will bring the government ultimately to a place where the reforms are effected and choices that need to be made about the economy are implemented. And we will obviously hope that it will not produce violence and be a moment of catalyzing, positive change for Egypt itself.

With respect to the comments – with respect to Mr. Snowden’s situation and the comments, I haven’t read the comments. I understand from – indirectly that it was a strong statement by the Foreign Minister. But I would simply appeal for calm and reasonableness in a moment where we don’t need to raise the level of confrontation over something as, frankly, basic and normal as this.

It is accurate that there is not an extradition treaty between Russia and the United States, so if you want to be technical, certainly there is no extradition treaty. But there are standards of behavior between sovereign nations. There are – there is common law. There is respect for rule of law. And we would simply call on our friends in Russia to respect the fact that a partner nation, a co-member of the Permanent Five of the United Nations has made a normal request under legal systems for law to be upheld.

And we would hope that as a nation, as a sovereign nation, Russia would not see its interests in siding with a person who is accused of breaking the law in another nation and who is a fugitive from justice according to international standards of law. So we simply call on them to – they don’t have to enforce the law, but they certainly can allow him to be subject to the laws of our land and our Constitution, which he is a citizen of. And that’s what we call on them to do.

We’re not looking for a confrontation. We’re not ordering anybody. We’re simply requesting, under a very normal procedure, for the transfer of somebody, just as we transferred to Russia seven people in the last two years that they requested that we did without any clamor, without any rancor, without any argument, and according to our sense of the appropriateness of meeting their request. And that’s what we would hope they would reciprocate with here today.

QUESTION: I have two questions. One is for Mr. Secretary and the other one for His Royal Highness. Mr. Secretary, I believe that there is a tremendous concern in the West and United States about – there was tremendous concern to arm the Syrian Free Army (inaudible) those are in relation to (inaudible). I believe that this concern has resulted in making Hezbollah and Iran more strong in the theater of operation in Syria. Now with the decision of the American Administration to arm the Free Syrian Army, I mean, are you going to arm them with the heavy weapons that could topple the regime or just to make the advance of power on the ground?

(Via translation.) Supporting the Syrian – the Syrian Free Army with (inaudible.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me just say very directly we never discussed the details of whatever class of weapons we might or might not be providing to anybody. That is not a matter of public discussion. And I think our goal, as I stated, is very clear. We do not want this to be a wider war. We do not want (inaudible) contribute to more bloodshed and a prolongation of the agony of the people of Syria. So our hope is to be able to speedily move to a place where the killing can end and the people of Syria will have a chance to choose their future. We believe that best is provided for through the Geneva process.

But we will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian military coalition and to the Syrian opposition in the interim and because we do not believe that it is appropriate for the Assad regime to have invited the Iranians and Hezbollah to cross international lines and to have their fighters on the ground. There are no United States fighters, there are no Saudi fighters, there are no Qatari fighters on the ground. The opposition was fighting. It is Assad who has grown this in its significance and global implications. And needless to say, we are responding appropriately and we will continue to respond appropriately as the President has said.

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Via interpreter.) The Kingdom’s aid to Syria – just like I said earlier, Syria is facing two things: genocide, unprecedented genocide in this region and a foreign invasion. The Syrians are calling out for the conscience – the collective conscience of the Arab, Islamic, and international communities to help them out and defend themselves against this unbelievable attack on them. Just like the Secretary said, what led to this situation are simple and basic demands by the Syrians to make their lives a little better. But the reaction, the violent reaction of the regime by killing the opposition and murdering those it considers to be opposition, made it inevitable for the Kingdom, which is an Arab country that’s a sister of Syria and has mutual interests with the Syrian people – it’s left with no choice but to help that people defend themselves. And the only restriction we – there is on the aid we can give to the Syrian opposition is our ability to help, our --

SECRETARY KERRY: Your call. It’s up to you. You can do whatever you want.

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Via interpreter.) The Secretary has an appointment.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter.) Concerning the Geneva 2, how will you hold the conference when the Syrian coalition will not participate? And what’s Saudi Arabia’s stand on calls for jihad? And what measures has it taken to – concerning that? And now the Syrian rebels, there is a rift among the alliance of the Syrian opposition. What is Saudi doing to alleviate that?

And Mr. Kerry, about (inaudible) agreement between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. that (inaudible) between Saudi and Arabia and the Americans. Why has that not include in this agreement?

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, which agreement is that?

PARTICIPANT: The case of Hamid (inaudible), a Saudi citizen.

SECRETARY KERRY: I will have to investigate that. I can’t tell you exactly, but I will find out for you, and we’ll get back to you. Fair enough?

FOREIGN MINISTER SAUD: (Via interpreter.) A rift among Syrian – factions within the Syrian oppositions, this – it’s important for them to agree, so as to defend themselves better and to go on to rebuild Syria in a way that preserves the interests of everyone, of all sects and ethnicities.

What the Kingdom is doing in that regard, we are always trying to convince them to tell them to – to help them to understand that it’s in their best interest to agree. And we hope that these efforts continue so as we arrive at their goals.

Jihad is basically according to – determined by whatever one can achieve. One can do jihad with their hands or with their words. And we are doing it with all our efforts. Thank you.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY AND QATARI PRIME MINISTER HAMAD MAKE REMARKS IN LONDON

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Secretary John F. Kerry's Opening Remarks at the London Eleven Plenary Meeting With Qatari Prime Minister Hamad

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Doha, Qatar
June 22, 2013

PRIME MINISTER HAMAD: (Via interpreter) In the name of Allah, most precious, most merciful. Your excellencies, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Doha for this critical meeting which we agreed to hold to explore the ways through which to address the deteriorating situation in Syria. No doubt you are following the development of the tragic events taking place in the Syrian arena. The bloodbath dictated by the regime is continuing. The number of deaths and innocent victims is increasing every day. And the large-scale destruction has become an undeniable fact beside the humanitarian calamity that has befallen the Syrian people, who has largely become either internally displaced or refugees in neighboring and other countries. All of the Arab and international efforts to end the Syrian tragedy has failed, rendering the international community a helpless observer that cannot deal with the situation.

In fact, the regime wouldn’t have been able to easily carry all its bloody policy and murder around and stall all peaceful settlements of the conflict if it were not for the help and support provided to it by very well-known regional and international powers. The less blunt example of that is the interference of Hezbollah of Lebanon, which imposes. And in this regard, the Lebanese Government has to take appropriate actions to stop all interference from Lebanon in the conflict raging in Syria. It is extremely mortifying to hear the news and see evidence about the regime’s unscrupulous use of chemical weapons against its own people.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we can see when we observe the situation in Syria. We think it’s the time that we should shoulder our monumental responsibilities of working to put an end to what is going on in Syria if we want to fulfill our legal and moral obligations, taking into consideration that we cannot wait because of the failure of the Security Council members to reach an agreement and a solution of the crisis. We all know what I said in the meeting of Paris. I said that your countries have moved to respond to many other issues that are less severe and less urgent than the continuing bloodshed in Syria without waiting for the explicit mandate from the Security Council.

We are not talking about the military intervention here. We simply call for intervention to resolve the humanitarian tragedy. And this is to agree on a timeframe, the roadmap that brings about a peaceful solution (inaudible) the struggle of the Syrian opposition forces to establish a political system that guarantees freedom, dignity, and human rights for the Syrian people. This objective cannot be achieved without maintaining force balanced, on the ground, to force the regime to engage in Syria’s negotiations. Therefore, we have to extend all kinds of support toward the forces of the opposition to enable them to reach their legitimate goals and provide generous humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people inside the country and the Syrian refugees in the neighboring countries.

Ladies and gentlemen, the use of force may be necessary to reach rightness. The provision and use of arms might be the only way to achieve peace, especially in the Syrian case. As such, moral support alone shall not be enough to the Syrian people. We have to provide all kinds of support to the national coalition of Syrian revolution and opposition forces and the Supreme Military Council until they become capable of confronting the regime’s forces and the regional and international powers supporting it. It is very important to make it clear to everyone that our call to provide support to the Syrian opposition and its military council is previous from humanitarian objectives, and such support has become essential after the regime has spoiled, through its (inaudible) procrastination and maneuvers, all the sincere efforts to bring about a peaceful solution through which to protect Syria and reach the legitimate aspiration of its people.

We are not against (inaudible) a peaceful settlement and definitely we’ll support the convention of Geneva 2 to come to bring about a peaceful transfer of power in Syria through the formation of a free, authorized transitional government in which Bashar al-Assad and his associated whose hands are stained with blood cannot participate. We announce this; notwithstanding, the regime will do its utmost to prevent the convention of such conference or thwart it if it is held, because what this regime is truly concerned with is not a peaceful transfer of power and an end to the tragedy, but try to continue to scramble for power even if that is at the cost of a million deaths and millions of internally displaced people and refugees and destroy and partitioning Syria.

Before I conclude my speech, I would like to share with you the ideas that have been evolving in my mind as we pass through what I think an historic juncture. No doubt we worked on our positions of responsibility to express the interests of our countries through the resolutions that we adopt at the level of international relations. However, this should not make us ignore the judgment of history with regard to the legacy that we are going to leave for the future generations of our countries and worldwide. Accordingly, we have to do our utmost to serve humanity by the resolutions we take. In this context, I recall the objectives outlined in the introduction of the United Nations Charter, as prescribed as commitments by the nations of the world that governments should implement. Here is where the challenge we are facing lies. Are we ready to accept this challenge for the sake of humanity and the peoples of the world? I sincerely hope that we are, and thank you.

And now I leave the mike to Mr. John Kerry.

SECRETARY KERRY: Your Highness, Mr. Prime Minister and my colleagues, foreign ministers, your highnesses, it’s a privilege to be here with all of you. I want to thank Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim and the state of Qatar and the Emir for their hospitality today. We’re very, very appreciative for the opportunity to gather. I think this is the fourth time we have gathered as a group, from the so-called London 11 supporters, and this is really one of the most important meetings that we’ve had in the course of the number of meetings that have successively set out a set of principles by which we believe the conflict in Syria could, in fact, come to a conclusion.

We are enormously appreciative and thank you for your eloquent statement a few minutes ago. Our discussions here that we have just engaged in and that we will continue will reaffirm the belief of every country represented here and of many countries not represented here that the international community is strongly committed to ending the violence in Syria and to bringing about a peaceful resolution to the crisis. I would emphasize that every state represented here, and many who have spoken and who are not here, have not taken sides for the purpose of winning a conflict or of seeking a military victory; they have supported an opposition in an effort to seek a peaceful resolution where all of the people of Syria choose the future of Syria, where the future for Syria is not chosen by one man representing one family or one group that is willing and content to kill people of all backgrounds and all faiths and all beliefs simply to hold onto power. That is an enormous distinction in what brings us here as a group.

Today’s meeting is an opportunity for us to assess where we are and determine what we can do to further the goal I just stated. Our goal is not to win a victory for power or for one group that has held power for years. Our effort is to allow the people of Syria as a whole, with every minority respected and protected, to be able to choose the future for their country, and to do so in a climate of peace, in an absence of oppression and violence.

The fact is that we have come together to do all we can to create the conditions for the settlement that implements the Geneva 1 communiqué. The formula for a peaceful resolution to the conflict of Syria already exists. It was already agreed to by members – representatives of the United Nations, by the Arab League, by all of the countries here, and others who signed on to a process by which a transitional government would be put in place to end the conflict, that transitional government being chosen by mutual consent of both the Assad regime as well as the opposition, and that that would put in place the ability of the people of Syria to be able to choose their future.

This would be done by mutual consent, which means that both sides would have to be prepared to compromise; both sides would have to be prepared to come to the table to choose people who will protect not one side or the other, but will protect the rights of all Syrians, and most importantly, end the violence and protect the ability to have a peaceful resolution.

That exists; this is Geneva 1. It’s documented, it’s written, it’s been agreed to, and most importantly, the Russians signed on to this. They have agreed to this. And they agreed with me when I was in Moscow meeting with President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov. They agreed that the sole purpose of reconvening in Geneva for Geneva 2 – the sole purpose was to implement Geneva 1.

So that’s what brings us here today. And in the coming days, we will have an ability to be able to advance this effort, we hope sooner rather than later, to bring the parties together to end the violence. The opposition is prepared, as long as the circumstances are as defined, to implement Geneva 1 and all of the parties here are prepared to convene in order to end the violence and move to this transition and to the appropriate manner of allowing the people of Syria to choose their future.

In the next days, Under Secretary of State of the United States Wendy Sherman and Ambassador Robert Ford are prepared to go to Geneva. They will meet with Lakhdar Brahimi and with a Russian counterpart, and we will try to move forward from there. This meeting today also gives all of us a chance to discuss the efforts to increase and coordinate support for the Syrian political and military opposition for the purpose of being able to get to Geneva and to be able to address the imbalance on the ground that has occurred.

When this Geneva 2 was announced, Assad responded not by saying, "We welcome this as a way to be able to resolve the crisis of Syria," but he responded by bringing Iranians into his country – Iranian fighters and advisers – and by bringing Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization, to cross the lines from Lebanon and engage in the fight on the ground. So Assad and the Assad regime’s response to a legitimate global effort to try to have a peace conference was to, in fact, militarize the efforts and internationalize that militarization, and make the region far more dangerous as a consequence. This step by Assad and his regime should concern countries all around the world.

The United States, through President Obama’s initiatives that he has already announced, remain committed to helping the people of Syria. At the recent G-8 Summit, President Obama pledged an additional $300 million in humanitarian assistance, bringing our total commitment to more than $800 million, and we’re proud to say more than any other country with respect to humanitarian aid. And we remain committed to forging – all of the ministers here are committed to forging a lasting political settlement. That is, as I said, laid out in the Geneva communiqué and we hope that in the next days we’ll be able to move to actually implement that.

His Highness, the Prime Minister, could not have said more eloquently what the impact of the current conflict is. Our friend here from Jordan, the Foreign Minister from Jordan, Nasser Judeh, has eloquently spoken about the impact of increasing numbers of refugees and life inside Jordan. While there aren’t camps, there’s an enormous impact of refugees in Lebanon, refugees in Turkey, and it is having a profound destabilizing effect, and one can only ask: What does it mean that almost 4 million people in a country have been driven out by their so-called leader and have to find safety and refuge in other countries?

The continued bloodshed at the hands of the Assad regime and the increasing involvement of Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, threaten the very prospects of a political settlement and of peace. And the regime’s use of chemical weapons crosses President Obama’s and other nations’ red lines. We also condemn – all of us – any atrocity or any excess by any extremists or by any oppositionist group that might engage in it. All of this makes the urgency of the political solution far more compelling.

And that is why the United States and other countries here, in their various ways, each choosing its own approach, will increase the scope and scale of assistance to the political and military opposition. And that is why we are working with our allies gathered here today to coordinate our support for the Syrian coalition and the Supreme Military Council. And I emphasize, we do so not to seek a military solution; we do so to come to the table and find a political settlement. Reliable civilian governance and a stronger and more effective armed opposition will better enable the opposition to be able to provide the counterweight to the initiative of Assad to reach out across borders, trans-boundary, to bring Iranians and to bring Hezbollah – again, a terrorist organization – to the table. We believe that this can help build momentum towards the political negotiations that are so critical here.

Every minister at this table and millions of people in Syria and in the surrounding region hope and pray that we can find a peaceful solution of this conflict so that the Syrian people can have a real potential for transition to their future that provides the prosperous and peaceful and pluralistic, diverse Syria that existed before this conflict began. And it is our hope and prayer that this meeting will help contribute to that end. Thank you very much, Mr. Minister.

PRIME MINISTER HAMAD: Thank you, John. Thank you.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE BELIEVES EXTREMISM THREATENS LATIN AMERICA

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Panetta: Violent Extremism Threatens Latin America

By Cheryl Pellerin

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 24, 2012 - Even in a region where some of the United States' closest military partners are steadily improving national stability and security, the threat of violent extremism is spreading, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said here yesterday.

During a weeklong trip that includes stops in Bogota, Colombia; Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile, the secretary is meeting with military and political leaders to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help with common defense challenges.

Increasingly, one of those challenges involves violent extremist organizations and the growing engagement of Iran in the region.

"We always have a concern about, in particular, the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] and efforts by the IRGC to expand their influence, not only throughout the Middle East but also into this region," Panetta said during a briefing en route to Colombia.

"In my book," he added, "that relates to expanding terrorism."

Last month, in written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, detailed the regional activities of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shi'a Muslim militant group and political party, and Iran.

Southcom's area of responsibility includes Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

"We do see evidence of international terrorist groups benefitting from the intertwined systems of illicit trafficking and money laundering in our AOR," Fraser said.

In South America, funding for Hezbollah is raised through charitable donations as well as through drug trafficking and dealing in counterfeit and pirated goods, he said.

In 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department identified the Lebanese Canadian Bank as a "primary money laundering concern" for its role in facilitating money laundering activities of Ayman Joumaa and his Lebanon-based drug trafficking network, which also channeled financial support to Hezbollah.

Joumaa also is accused of smuggling U.S.-bound cocaine through Central America and Mexico and laundering money for a group called Los Zetas, and many Colombian and Venezuelan suppliers.

"In addition to Hezbollah supporters throughout South America, the region is home to a small number of violent extremist organizations, Fraser said.

"We remain vigilant for the potential radicalization of homegrown extremists," the general added.

For example, a small number of Sunni extremists are involved in the radicalization of converts and other Muslims, Fraser told the panel.

"These efforts can be seen through the influence of public personalities like Jamaica's Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal, who was convicted in the United Kingdom for inciting terrorism," the general said.

Al-Qaida senior operative Adnan el-Shukrijumah has held valid passports for the United States, as well as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, where he has family and associates, Fraser added.

Despite recent convictions in a 2007 plot to attack the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, one alleged co-conspirator remains at large in Guyana, he said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has visited the region six times in six years, and Iran continues its overtures to countries there to try to circumvent international sanctions, Fraser said.

Iran has established modest economic, cultural and security ties, the general added, mostly with nations aligned with a group known as the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of our Americas, called ALBA. These include Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Iran also has established 36 Shi'a cultural centers in the region, Fraser said.

The Fundacion Cultural Oriente is an Iranian outreach center dedicated to strengthening Iran's ties to Latin America, Fraser said.

The center is run by radical cleric Moshen Rabbani, who is on the Interpol Red List for involvement in the 1994 bombings of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, the general said, adding that Rabbani oversees several media outlets and has recruited students from the region to study in Iran.

"We take Iranian activity in the hemisphere seriously and we monitor its activities closely," Fraser said.

"The U.S. government's successful detection and thwarting of the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States," he added, "reinforces the importance of that monitoring and the effectiveness of U.S. countermeasures."

The expansion of terrorism is an area of concern for the region and its partners, Panetta said.

"I hope we can work together," the secretary added, "to make sure that all the steps are taken to ensure that anything that encourages terrorism can be fought against."