King of Bahrain meets with Burns, Mayors
Bahrain-USA, Politics, 10/30/2002

The King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday stressed his country's care to keep the Gulf region away from "all tensions." This was expressed during his meeting with the chairman of the US joint army chief of staff Gen. Richard Mayors and the assistance for the US secretary of state for the Middle East affairs, William Burns.

Bahrain's news agency said that Sheikh Hamad stressed during the meeting "his country's interests and care to maintain stability and security in the region and to alienate it from all tensions." The agency indicated that during the meeting "discussions dealt with current developments taking place at the regional and international arenas and the Middle East peace process and the efforts made to restore back the peace process." During his regional tour, Burns discussed an "American road map" which will lead to the foundation of a Palestinian state in three stages by the fall of 2005. This document was welcomed by criticism and reservations from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides as well as from other countries like Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Burns arrived in Bahrain coming from Qatar where he had held talks with high ranking Qatari officials including the crown prince, and visited al-Aided base in Qatar where thousands of American troops are stationed.

Mayors on Monday held talks in Saudi Arabia with the Saudi crown prince and with the defense minister who received an official request on using the Saudi military bases in a likely war against Iraq, according to the US under secretary of state for military and political affairs Lincoln Bloomfield who is accompanying general Mayors in his tour on the region.

The American embassy in Manama said that Mayors talks with high ranking officials in Manama centered on regional issues of mutual concern, giving no more details.

Earlier in the day, yesterday, Bahrain's prime minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa renewed his country's position concerning the Palestinian question. He stressed the need of restoring back to the Palestinians their legitimate rights including the right to establishing their own independent state with Jerusalem as a capital.

Sheikh Khalifa stressed during his meeting with Burns the importance of preserving stability in the region. He expressed his regret over the assassination of the American diplomat in Amman, according to the Bahraini news agency.

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