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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 14 November 2017
Saudi walks back escalation as dramatic moves backfire

shocked the nation by an- widely known by his initials,
nouncing his resignation MBS, has garnered a repu-
from the Saudi capital on tation for being decisive, as
Nov. 4, gave an interview in well as impulsive.
which he backed off his stri- At just 32 years old and with
dent condemnation of the little experience in govern-
Lebanese militant Hezbol- ment, he has risen to power
lah, saying he would return in just three years to over-
to the country within days see all major aspects of
to seek a settlement with politics, security and the
the Shiite militants, his rivals economy in Saudi Arabia.
in his coalition government. As defense minister, he is
The two developments sug- in charge of the Saudi-led
gest that Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.
bullish young crown prince, He also appears to have
Mohammed bin Salman, the support of President
may be trying to pedal Donald Trump and his son-
back from the abyss of a in-law, senior adviser Jared
severe regional escalation. Kushner, who visited the
“This represents de-esca- Saudi capital earlier this
lation by the Saudis,” said month.
Yezid Sayigh, a senior fel- Saudi partners in the Gulf
low at the Carnegie Middle and the Trump administra-
A poster of resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic that read, “We are all with East Center in Beirut. “The tion rushed to defend the
you,” hangs on a street in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Cardinal Bechara el-Rai, who general trend is that the kingdom publicly after a
heads the Maronite sect, Lebanon’s biggest Christian community and the Middle East’s largest
Catholic church, is to head to Saudi Arabia and is expected to meet with Hariri, in a visit he had Saudis are going to back rebel Houthi missile was
planned before Hariri announced his resignation. off and this is largely be- fired at the Saudi capital,
(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) cause of the unexpected Riyadh, from Yemen last
By ZEINA KARAM Now it’s trying to walk back Riyadh. extent of international pres- week. A top U.S. military
Associated Press its escalations in Lebanon The move came just hours sure, and not least of all U.S. official also backed Saudi
BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Ara- and Yemen. after Lebanese Prime pressure.” claims that the missile was
bia’s dramatic moves to On Monday, the kingdom Minister Saad Hariri, who Mohammed bin Salman, manufactured by Iran.q
counter Iran in the region announced that the Saudi-
appear to have backfired, led coalition fighting Shiite
significantly ratcheting up rebels in Yemen would be-
regional tensions and set- gin reopening airports and
ting off a spiral of reactions seaports in the Arab world’s
and anger that seem to poorest country, days after
have caught the kingdom closing them over a rebel
off guard. ballistic missile attack on

Turkey denies reports of plans
to kidnap cleric Gulen from US

BY ZEYNEP BILGINSOY The Turkish Embassy in
Associated Press Washington reiterated de-
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has mands late Saturday for
dismissed as “utterly false, the United States to extra-
ludicrous and groundless” dite Gulen so he can stand
a report that Turkish offi- trial. The embassy in a
cials may have discussed statement rejected “all al-
paying millions of dollars to legations that Turkey would
have a U.S.-based Muslim resort to means external to
cleric kidnapped. the rule of law” to get Gu-
The Wall Street Journal re- len back on Turkish soil.
ported Friday that Special Flynn’s lawyers also have
Counsel Robert Mueller disputed the Journal report
was investigating an al- that Mueller was looking
leged plot involving former into a meeting where Flynn
U.S. National Security Ad- allegedly discussed a plan
viser Michael Flynn and his that would pay him and his
son to hand Fethullah Gu- son “to forcibly remove”
len over to Ankara for as Gulen.
much as $15 million. “Out of respect for the pro-
Turkey blames the cleric cess of the various investi-
and his supporters for a July gations regarding the 2016
2016 military coup attempt campaign, we have inten-
that killed 250 people. Gu- tionally avoided respond-
len, who lives in Pennsylva- ing to every rumor or alle-
nia, has denied being be- gation,” the lawyers said in
hind it. a statement.q