NEWS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2015 Saudi effort to promote open society in... Continued from Page 1 achieve that goal. But Roman Catholic Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran foreshadowed Islam specialist Ruediger Lohlker says that the center hasn’t the present dispute, urging the center to work for religious free- existed nearly long enough for that goal to bear fruit, and sug- dom everywhere, including in countries “where such freedoms gests those criticizing it be patient. Opposition by the clergy and are not guaranteed.” The opposition Greens, moderate Muslim other powerful conservative Saudi factions means that domesti- organizations and human-rights groups were opposed from the cally, “the process of reform tends to be plodding,” he said. In any outset, with some fearing that the center was a front for Saudi case, supporters argue that KAICIID’s mandate is not to speak out attempts to spread the conservative Wahhabi version of Islam in against individual human rights abuses but to facilitate dialogue Europe. between religions. And they note that Austria - along with co- Concerns morphed into outrage even before the Badawi case backer Spain and The Vatican as an observer - signed on fully over comments by KAICIID deputy director Claudia Bandion- aware of Saudi Arabia’s record of flogging, beheading and muti- Ortner. The former Austrian justice minister stepped down late lating those convicted of a range of crimes. At best, they say, last year after dismissing as “nonsense” suggestions that behead- expectations that the center now will condemn Saudi blogger ings were commonplace in Saudi Arabia, and describing as “com- Raif Badawi’s sentence of 50 lashes each over 20 weeks is naive - fortable” the black, all-encompassing abaya that women there and at worst a stunt by Chancellor Werner Faymann’s Socialist are forced to wear. Faymann has critics even within his ruling party to gain voter support by exploiting public outrage over the coalition. The centrist People’s Party who govern with his sentence. Socialists says the chancellor is hurting Austria with his demands. At Faymann’s urging, the foreign ministry commissioned a And the government report is in some ways a contradictory report that demands the center’s “withdrawal from Vienna” unless document. While issuing its ultimatum, the report - drawn up by it starts speaking out against “human rights violations with a reli- the Foreign Ministry which is under People’s Party control - also gious component”. The chancellor says that if KAICIID stays quiet notes that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia “was known over Badawi, it “is not worthy of being called a dialogue center - it at the time of KAICIID’s opening and was no different than today”. is a silence center”. The center’s Jewish board member calls such It says the Saudis already have warned that further pressure comments perverse. “In many respects, the government is now might result in serious diplomatic and economic fallout, includ- questioning its own decision,” says Chief Rabbi David Rosen, not- ing OPEC pulling up stakes and ending its 50-year presence in ing that Austria agreed to host KAICIID “knowing that Saudi Vienna. Arabia is not the embodiment of human rights.” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said he hoped The project was born of Abdullah’s 2007 audience with Pope the center “can continue to do its work promoting dialogue”, and Benedict XVI to discuss interreligious and intercultural dialogue. noted that the center and its international status was recognized U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon attended the center’s by the UN - a hint that any Austrian move to force it out would splashy opening five years later, along with the Saudi, Austrian call into question Vienna’s commitment to hosting other UN-rec- and Spanish foreign ministers and more than 650 other guests. ognized organizations. Spanish government officials had no The three spoke only vaguely about the need to overcome reli- comment while the Saudi Embassy in Vienna directed all queries gious differences and expressed hope that KAICIID would to the center, also noting its international status. — AP A person walks through a snowstorm outside the Wells Fargo Center after an NHL hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators on Saturday in Philadelphia. — AP US convenes war council in Kuwait Continued from Page 1 meant to transcend bureaucratic divisions and informa- tion “stovepipes”, officials said. Sisi calls for joint Arab force, hails Gulf Special Operations Command, said Pentagon Carter told reporters before arriving in Kuwait City that spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby. he had called the meeting because he was “trying to Continued from Page 1 ing to show that he and members of his inner circle want- Diplomats and civilian officials due to take part assess the situation in Iraq, Syria, and the region more ed to milk them for every dollar. “We must be alert to all include John Allen, President Barack Obama’s envoy to generally”. The IS threat was “a regional issue”, Carter said, creation of a military pact to take on Islamic militants, the attempts that are designed to drive a wedge between the anti-IS coalition as well as the US special envoy to “and I wanted to have all of that expertise represented”. with the possibility of a joint force to intervene around the us and our brothers,” he said, addressing his Gulf allies. Syria, Daniel Rubinstein, he said. Washington’s ambassa- On his first trip abroad as defence secretary after being Middle East. Last week, security and military officials said “Know well that we can never insult you. We are with you dors to Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the sworn in last Tuesday, Carter came to Kuwait after a two- discussions of the plan were back on track after a hiatus, in the face of all the challenges that you confront,” he said. United Arab Emirates will also attend the meeting. Senior day visit to Afghanistan, consulting commanders about with Jordan, France, Italy and Algeria now viewed as possi- Sisi did not directly mention the leaks in his broad- intelligence officials also will be on hand for talks that are the pace of a US troop withdrawal. — AFP ble additional partners. cast yesterday. Turning to domestic issues, Sisi said a Yesterday, Sisi lavishly praised Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and “first batch” of detained youths will be released from the United Arab Emirates for their multibillion dollar aid to prison within days, without elaborating. The govern- Turkey pulls tomb, guards from Syria Egypt following Morsi’s ouster. Their aid, he said, was “the ment has waged a sweeping crackdown on Morsi’s Continued from Page 1 permission from no one, we conducted it with our own main reason that Egypt continued to stand fast against all Islamist supporters as well as young members of the initiative,” he said. the challenges and difficulties it faced”. He also sought to groups that fuelled the uprising that toppled autocrat assure his oil-rich Gulf Arab allies over audio leaks purport- Hosni Mubarak in 2011. — AP President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the The tomb of Suleyman Shah, who is said to have armed forces on the operation - codenamed Shah Firat died in 1236, is considered Turkish territory under the (Shah Euphrates) - and confirmed that the tomb would 1921 Treaty of Ankara between the Turkish authorities be relocated in the Syrian district of Eshme, just 200 m and France, which then controlled French-mandated Barrak handed two years in jail from the Turkish border. Syria. The figure of Suleyman Shah helps Turks link the “Our flag will continue to fly in a new place to keep Ottoman dynasty, which according to tradition was Continued from Page 1 court scrapped the sentence for being illegal and decided alive the memory of our ancestors,” he said. A soldier was founded by Osman in 1299, with the early Turkic tribes to handle the case. The government however did not killed in an accident during the operation to evacuate the who swept through Anatolia from Asia. “A nation cannot Saadoun said that the jail sentence against Barrak heed with warnings from Barrak and the opposition and guards at the tomb, which is some 37 km inside Syrian build a future without a past and symbols of the past,” should signal the start of eradicating corruption and cor- amended the electoral law, which is now called the sin- territory, the Turkish army said in a separate statement. It said Davutoglu. rupt forces in Kuwait. gle-vote law. said the soldier lost his life in the “initial stage” of the Davutoglu and Erdogan said the transfer of the tomb Like the previous time, Barrak yesterday said he will sur- The amendment led to massive demonstrations by the operation but emphasised there were no clashes during to a new location inside Syria was fully within interna- render himself to police when they come to take him, pro- opposition, which boycotted the election held in Dec the mission. tional law as it did not violate the 1921 treaty. This is not vided they produce the original copy of the ruling and the 2012. Opposition groups also boycotted elections held in The army said the decision to evacuate the guards and the first time the tomb has been relocated - it was execution order. Until late yesterday, police has not arrest- July 2013 after the constitutional court dissolved the pre- relocate the tomb was taken because of the worsening moved in the 1970s when its then location, also on the ed Barrak. “You can jail my body but not my ideas and will,” vious Assembly. Since then, the opposition has been sub- security situation in the area, part of Syria’s Aleppo Euphrates, was flooded by the Syrian authorities to con- he said.