Cohen ends visit to Riyadh, UAE dailies criticize US policy
Saudi Arabia-United Arab Emirates-USA, Politics, 10/21/1999

US Defense Secretary William Cohen on Wednesday concluded a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he met with Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz.

During his visit Cohen held talks dealt with Saudi officials on bilateral relations in the military and defense areas as well as political developments in the Gulf arena and the Middle East, especially the Middle East peace process.

Earlier in the day, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan met with Cohen, who arrived in Abu Dhabi earlier in the day in the course of his tour on the Arab Gulf states.

The UAE news agency said the two sides reviewed the situation in the Gulf region and means of strengthening cooperation between the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In a press conference, Cohen said delays in signing a transaction to sell 80 US F-16 jets worth $6 billion to the UAE were due to "long-term negotiations pertaining to the technical requirements for the UAE air force," adding, "We believe that the technical requirements have now been satisfied."

Meanwhile, the UAE dailies on Wednesday criticized the policy pursued by the US at the time when Cohen had already started his visit to the country.

The UAE daily al-Khaleej said that under the pretext of containing the Iraqi government, the US policy is intending to "market" Israel. For its part the UAE al-Itihad daily stressed that Washington has a doubled-standard policy that is governed by its own interests. The paper questioned why "do we find a strong US keenness to deter Iraq and Yugoslavia while it does not move in other parts?"

The comments made by the UAE dailies came in reply to statements made by US Defense Secretary William Cohen, in which he announced that the US troops will stay in the Arab Gulf for "deterring" purposes.

Previous Stories:
  Baghdad criticizes officials' tours, US call for approach with Israel   (10/20/1999)
  Iraq comments on Cohen statement   (10/19/1999)
  Cohen visits Saudi Arabia   (10/19/1999)

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