Iran minister plans fence-mending visit to Bahrain

TEHRAN: Iranian Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli will visit Bahrain today in a bid to defuse a row that has threatened relations between the two Gulf neighbors.

He will carry a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for King Hamad, state-run media said, amid Bahraini anger at reported comments by a senior Iranian official saying that the island state was once the 14th province of Iran.

“Meeting and talking to the Bahraini king and delivering a message from our president tops the agenda for Mahsouli’s trip to Bahrain,” the state IRNA news agency said.

It said the minister would also take part in a security conference in Manama.

The ISNA student news agency said Mahsouli would meet senior Bahraini officials in a bid “to elevate cooperation between the two countries.”

Bahrain protested after Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, a prominent conservative member of Iran’s powerful Expediency Council, reportedly said the kingdom used to be Iran’s 14th province and had a representative in its Parliament.

Iran has since moved to defuse the spat, which has also threatened a major gas deal between the two nations, saying it respects Bahrain’s sovereignty.

Gulf states called on Iran on Sunday to condemn the remarks.

“That was a speech which caused misunderstanding and there were some misinterpretations,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference, without elaborating.

Iran’s relations with Bahrain are “based on mutual respect,” Qashqavi said.

Manama has halted talks with Tehran over natural gas imports over the reported comments. Bahrain’s foreign minister also summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the remarks earlier in February.

Qashqavi said the gas contract would be valuable for both Iran and Bahrain and both sides wanted to see it implemented.

He said Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki “insisted on the improvement of mutual relations” in talks with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa.

He did not say when they had held talks.

Source : Arab News

Clinton ends visit with charm offensive

By Erwida Maulia , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looked to waste no time during her tightly arranged visit to Indonesia, which wound up Thursday.

Her mission to put a new face on US foreign policy, one that was friendlier and willing to be a “better listener” than ever, has seemingly been accomplished.

The new US secretary of state did everything from holding serious talks with Indonesian leaders, to sharing her fancy for classical music in front of a local TV audience.

After meeting with Indonesia Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, visiting the ASEAN Secretariat and having dinner with civil society figures on Wednesday, Clinton appeared on a local TV show, paid a courtesy call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and visited a slum area in Jakarta on Thursday before departing to South Korea later in the afternoon.

On Thursday morning, Clinton, her face wreathed in smiles, appeared in music program Dahsyat on local broadcaster RCTI, in which the relaxed former first lady shared with the audience her love of classical music.

“I like listening to classical music while working. It's soothing... My husband usually listens to jazz and rock and roll,” Clinton said when model-cum-presenter Luna Maya asked her about her favorite music.

Clinton also said she enjoyed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when she was younger.
However, she turned down a request to sing, saying, “The problem is people will leave when I sing.”

The TV show also presented famous local singers Melly Goeslaw and Agnes Monica, who asked for a photograph with Clinton.

RCTI corporate secretary Gilang Iskandar told newsportal okezone.com that Clinton enjoyed the talk about music so much that she forgot the interview should have lasted for only 10 minutes instead of 20.

Gilang said RCTI had worked hard to secure Clinton’s approval to appear on the TV show.

During the meeting with President Yudhoyono, Clinton reiterated Washington's willingness to build a “comprehensive partnership” with Indonesia, while praising the latter’s “leading roles” in a number of environmental issues.

She also said predominantly Muslim Indonesia could serve as a model of how Islam, democracy, modernization and the fulfillment of women’s rights could all grow in harmony, according to presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

Yudhoyono, in return, asked the US to play a bigger role in resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict and to take the lead in global environmental issues.

The President called his meeting with Clinton a “wonderful” and “productive” meeting.

Also present at the 45-minute talk were Acting Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sri Mulyani, Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, State Secretary Hatta Rajasa and Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi.

Through Clinton, the President renewed his invitation to US President Barack Obama to come to Indonesia on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC meeting in Singapore.

Obama has said he would visit a major Muslim nation, in a move aimed at reconciling the US and the Islamic world.

After bidding farewell to Yudho-yono and before stepping into a waiting car, Clinton greeted enthusiastic journalists lined up nearby and shook hands with the lucky ones, leaving others disappointed.

She then paid a visit to Petojo Utara, a residential area in Central Jakarta, where USAID has built a public toilet equipped with a waste treatment facility.

Clinton walked on foot to reach the toilet, during which dozens of neighborhood school students, who had been watching, waved at her. She waved back at them.

However, Clinton missed the chance to have a taste of fried bananas and fried tempe prepared by local housewives.

She stayed only around 15 minutes in Petojo before heading to the airport.

During a press conference at the neighborhood state junior high school SMPN 38, Clinton said she had planned this brief visit as part of her people-to-people approach to diplomacy.

“Through this kind of interaction, I can find out what the public feels and can encourage them to better their quality of life,” she said.

Due to her tight schedule, Clinton failed to attend a cooking demonstration that local housewives had organized.