INTERVIEW: Veteran US diplomat Dennis Ross on significance of Biden’s Saudi visit and what it can achieve

1 | Presidents adjust their rhetoric
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Updated 15 July 2022
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INTERVIEW: Veteran US diplomat Dennis Ross on significance of Biden’s Saudi visit and what it can achieve

  • The former peace negotiator said that the rhetoric employed by presidential candidates while they are campaigning is often adjusted when they take office
  • He said he hopes the US president’s visit ‘will shine a spotlight on the changes that are taking place within Saudi Arabia’ which ‘may be creating a model in the region’

CHICAGO: Ambassador Dennis Ross, who served as point man for peace under US President Bill Clinton, told Arab News on Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia can not only help address America’s economic challenges but also strengthen the groundwork for peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Ross, the William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who also served under presidents George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama, said that what presidential candidates say while they are campaigning and what they actually do once they take office are reflective of their needs at the time, and that Biden’s past criticism of Saudi Arabia is now overshadowed by the importance of the Kingdom to American needs.

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“Every American president, when he runs in a campaign, tends to make statements that seem to respond to the needs of the moment,” Ross said during an exclusive interview.

“There were plenty of presidents I worked for that were mindful of what they said in campaigns and then they faced the reality of decisions and choices they had to make. What you say in a campaign may at times limit what you can do.

“But ultimately presidents make hard decisions, they face dilemmas. He made a decision to go to Saudi Arabia because he understood this is something that is important to the United States right now. And I would say not just right now. I would say we are in a competition with Russia and China over what the shape of the international system is going to look like. What are the rules of the game? What’s going to shape the norms. If Russia and China are the ones defining that then you will see spheres of influence where big nations can dictate to little nations what they can do.”

He continued: “The trip to Saudi Arabia is important because the Saudis need to be part of this broader coalition. They need to be part of an American partnership as we try to transition away from fossil fuels. It is going to take a couple decades.

“If we don’t want to see lurches where suddenly the price of oil and gasoline goes up dramatically, we need to have a set of understandings with the Saudis. This is important to us and I think he realizes this and that is why he is making the trip.”

Ross said that Biden’s visit could result in benefits not only for the US but for Middle East peace and for the Palestinians.

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“I think it is going to achieve several things,” he said. “It is going to re-establish the US Saudi relationship and, really, a relationship and partnership. It’s important to re-establish that. I think there were tensions on both sides; it wasn’t just on one side, it was on both sides.

“But I think the relationship will be put back on a solid footing and that’s critical. I think we are going to see agreements emerge on 5G and telecommunications. I think we are going to see agreements emerge on the future of Green Energy. This is very much in America’s interests but it is also very much in Saudi interests.

“I think we will see agreements in the security and defense area. I think we will see a much more integrated approach to security in the region. From a Saudi standpoint, that has a benefit of embedding the US more in the region. The more you see greater integration of air early warning, missile defense … the more the US is embedded under the umbrella of Central Command.”

He added that the more integration there is among countries in the region in terms of security and defense, and not only with the US, the more the burden can be shared.

“So, our role, which is going to be more embedded in the region, is also more sustainable as a result,” said Ross. “This is a relationship that meets the needs of both sides and I think we are going to see that emerge from this trip.”

He praised the recent changes and developments in the Kingdom ushered in by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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“Saudi Arabia is transforming itself in a way that addresses the needs not just of Saudi Arabia but it may be creating a model in the region, at least for the Arabs that have never had a successful model of development. That is hugely in our interests,” Ross said.

“The reason we have seen so much turmoil and conflict is precisely because extremists on both ends, whether they were radical nationalists or radical Islamists, they said, ‘We have the answer for the failure of these states to advance.’ And they didn’t, by definition. And here is a new model, at least for a larger state.”

He said that some regional states with smaller populations have embarked on a process of transformation but added: “Here you have a larger Arab state that is undertaking a fundamental approach to modernization. And if it succeeds in that, it sends a message to the rest of the region that there is a different way. There has been a promotion of religious tolerance.”

Ross highlighted the recent choice of Mohammed Al-Issa, a religious moderate, to deliver the sermon for Eid Al-Adha as an important example of the ways in which Saudi Arabia is changing its dynamics to improve the world.

“We had Mohammed Al-Issa give the sermon for Eid,” he said. “Here is someone who made a trip to Auschwitz and who is emphasizing ... respect for other faiths and promoting interreligious dialogues. Some clearly attacked him because of what he represents and what he stands for, and he was the one asked by the crown prince to give the sermon.

“It speaks volumes about the changes taking that are taking place in Saudi Arabia. I hope this visit — and some of what is likely to emerge from the visit in terms of agreements in the high-tech area, in the area of renewable energy — I hope some of this will shine a spotlight on the changes that are taking place within Saudi Arabia that have received far less attention than they should have.”

Saudi Arabia has initiated a wide range of social developments and changes which, Ross said, take time to fully realize but can help to undermine the extremist messages that fuel violence throughout the world.

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The transformation of any society, culturally, politically or socially, is not like flipping a light switch and suddenly everything changes, he added.

“It has to be a process,” Ross said. “You are dealing with human endeavors. You have generational change taking place and it takes time to create different kinds of habits and different kinds of norms. But what we are seeing is transformation that is pretty remarkable in terms of the speed.

“I have been coming to Saudi Arabia since 1991. I wrote an article in the Washington Post when I went there in 2016, and I said this is a different country than I have been coming to. It is because of what you see outwardly.

“It is completely different in the sense that I am struck by the fact that there is a place in Riyadh called UWalk. And when you walk down that promenade, you see large numbers of Saudis walking and … you are going to cafes and restaurants and women will be the maitre d’s and they will be servers. There is a complete mixing of men and women.”

Ross said he was impressed by the reality of the changes he saw in Saudi society.

“I saw two women — I call this, kind of, the new emblem of the new Saudi Arabia — I saw two women walking, arm-in-arm,” he said. “One woman was completely covered, veiled. The only thing you saw were her eyes. (She was) walking arm-in-arm with a woman completely Westernized: No head covering, no scarf, her hair actually dyed so it stood out. Why was that significant? Because it showed that they were comfortable with each other. For me that is an extraordinary statement.

“So, yes, I see a very different Saudi Arabia. Every country has its worst (aspects) … and yes, there are issues and we should raise them. But a relationship is a two-way street and this visit of President Biden is an opportunity to put the relationship back on the right footing and realize that we have common stakes with each other.

“This is a relationship that reflects the needs and interests of both sides and I am confident the results of this trip (will be that) we are going to be able to pursue those needs and interests much more effectively now.”

Ross, who played a critical role in President Clinton’s efforts to broker peace between the Palestinians and Israelis in the 1990s, said that those two societies are more skeptical of peace efforts today. The normalization of relations between the Arab world and Israel, he argued, can help to break the stalemate that is keeping Palestinians and Israelis locked in a cycle of violence and conflict.

 

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“Even if you had a left-wing Israeli government, you don’t have any capability on the Palestinian side to negotiate an outcome,” he said. “First thing that has to be done is to restore belief in the sense of possibility. There is a lot that can be done from the ground up.

“Here is where Arab outreach to Israel becomes a very useful element in terms of changing the equation. We have a complete stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians but we have a new element in the equation, which is the Abraham Accords on one hand; the normalization process.

“Arab states see not just the security benefits of the relationship with Israel but they are looking at a need for water security, food security, health security, cyber security. Israeli is cutting edge in all of these technologies, it is a world leader in all of these technologies. Arab States, Arab leaders, are not going to deny themselves what is in their interests, because they perceive the Palestinian leadership not being able to move.”

Ross argued that normalization agreements provides Arab countries with leverage they can use to encourage a move toward a final peace accord for the Palestinians.

“Arab state outreach to Israel can also be used to get Israelis to move towards the Palestinians,” he said. “When the Emirates made a decision to fully normalize, they came to the Trump administration and said, ‘We will fully normalize but the price is Israel does not annex the territory allotted to it under the Trump peace plan.’ So they created a reverse linkage.

“The Palestinians have wanted no normalization until after the end of occupation but Arab states are not prepared to deny themselves what is in their interests. But they can use their relationship to say OK, we will make this move but we want to see you take the following step.

“In the case of the UAE they did something that prevented annexation. They prevented a negative. But the Arab states can actually ask for a positive, saying OK, we are taking this step toward you, here is what we would like to see you do toward the Palestinians. That is a way to break the stalemate.”

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UK to fight compensation claims after massive Afghanistan data leak

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UK to fight compensation claims after massive Afghanistan data leak

  • Ministry of Defence accidentally released sensitive information on people who worked with British forces against Taliban
  • Breach from 2022 was hushed up by government but thousands now joining lawsuits

London: The UK will resist paying compensation to thousands of Afghans caught up in a data leak scandal, The Times reported on Saturday.

The names and details of around 100,000 people in Afghanistan who worked with UK Armed Forces as part of the US-led coalition in the country were accidentally revealed online by a Ministry of Defence employee in February 2022.

It led to a massive covert program to bring large numbers of Afghans to Britain for fear they could be targeted by the Taliban, it emerged this week.

But the MoD will fight five-figure claims against it for endangering the lives of Afghans caught up in the leak following a review by former civil servant Paul Rimmer, ordered by Defence Secretary John Healey, which suggested that the risk to their safety had “diminished.”

Lawyers for the ministry say taxpayers have already paid enough after billions of pounds were set aside for the repatriation scheme of around 24,000 Afghan personnel and their families to the UK, a source told The Times.

Thousands of Afghans still trapped in their country have been left in fear for their safety after learning about the data breach on July 15.

The leak and accompanying repatriation scheme were kept from public knowledge after the government used a legal device called a superinjunction to prevent reporting on it. 

Before the superinjunction was lifted by a court, the government announced a small compensation scheme for victims of a separate, smaller data leak from 2021, of £4,000 ($5,364) per person.

The MoD will contest compensation claims by law firms representing Afghans affected by the 2022 breach.

The biggest lawsuit, brought by Barings Law, involves over 1,000 Afghan clients. The Times said it has seen WhatsApp messages sent to people in the UK, Afghanistan and Pakistan urging them to register with Barings to join the lawsuit.

The firm’s head of data protection, Adnan Malik, said around 100 people a day are signing up to sue the MoD, and the firm expects to be able to win payouts of “at least five figures” for those who can prove they had been contacted by the ministry confirming that their details were leaked.

Law firm Leigh Day is also suing the government on behalf of hundreds of Afghan clients. “We are currently acting for a number of existing clients and are also being approached each day by dozens more people who have been affected,” Sean Humber, a partner at the firm, told The Times.

The MoD confirmed that around 5,400 Afghans still in their country are eligible for flights to the UK under the Afghan Response Route and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

It expects to have relocated all those deemed at risk from the Taliban and with a right to come to Britain under its various programs by 2029.

An MoD spokesman told The Times: “We will robustly defend against any legal action or compensation. The independent Rimmer Review concluded that it is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet would be grounds for an individual to be targeted, and this is the basis on which the court lifted its super injunction this week.”


Car rams Los Angeles crowd, injuring 28: fire department

Updated 1 min 19 sec ago
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Car rams Los Angeles crowd, injuring 28: fire department

  • More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene in East Hollywood
  • An earlier report from officials had listed four to five people in “at least critical condition“

LOS ANGELES: An “unknown vehicle” drove into a crowd in Hollywood in the early hours of Saturday, injuring 28 people, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, without providing information on the cause of the incident.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene in East Hollywood assisting three patients in critical condition, six in serious condition and 19 listed as fair, the Fire Department said.

An earlier report from officials had listed four to five people in “at least critical condition.”

ABC News quoted a Fire Department official saying that preliminary investigations pointed to a driver losing consciousness and ramming a large crowd outside a nightclub. However, this could not be immediately verified.

The area where the incident occurred is near Hollywood landmarks including Sunset Boulevard and the Walk of Fame — a sidewalk emblazoned with stars commemorating movie industry figures.


DR Congo, M23 armed group sign ceasefire deal

Updated 19 July 2025
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DR Congo, M23 armed group sign ceasefire deal

  • The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in Doha
  • A separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal was signed in Washington last month

DOHA: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed armed group M23 signed a ceasefire deal on Saturday to end fighting that has devastated the country’s mineral-rich but conflict-torn east.

The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, which follows a separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal signed in Washington last month.

“The Parties commit to uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire,” including refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions,” said the agreement.

The M23, which seized vast swathes of territory in eastern DRC in a lightning offensive in January and February, had insisted on seeking its own ceasefire deal with Kinshasa, saying the Washington deal left out various “problems” that still needed to be addressed.

The African Union hailed the new deal as a “significant development,” saying: “This... marks a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace, security, and stability in eastern DRC and the wider Great Lakes region.”

Under the deal, the warring parties agreed to open negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement.

The deal, which the two sides said aligns with the Washington agreement, also includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in eastern DRC.

Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the deal took account of the DRC’s “red lines,” including “the non-negotiable withdrawal of the M23 from occupied areas followed by the deployment of our institutions,” including the national armed forces.

He said a comprehensive peace agreement would follow “in the coming days.”

The deal said the two sides had agreed to implement its terms by July 29 at the latest, and to start direct negotiations toward a permanent agreement by August 8.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to solidify the Washington peace deal, whose terms have not yet been implemented.

Previous ceasefire agreements for eastern DRC have collapsed in the past.

Neighboring Rwanda denies providing military backing to the M23, but UN experts say that the Rwandan army played a “critical” role in the group’s offensive, including combat operations.

Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, eastern DRC has been racked by conflict for more than three decades, creating a humanitarian crisis and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Thousands were killed in the M23 offensive earlier this year, which saw the group capture the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.

The front line has stabilized since February, but fighting was still breaking out regularly between the M23 and multiple pro-government militias.


Slightly radioactive Fukushima soil is used at Japanese prime minister’s office to prove safety

Updated 19 July 2025
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Slightly radioactive Fukushima soil is used at Japanese prime minister’s office to prove safety

  • Officials say the soil meets safety standards set by the Environment Ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency
  • The government hopes this move will reassure the public of its safety as it seeks to reduce the massive volume of contaminated soil stored near the nuclear plant

TOKYO: Decontaminated but slightly radioactive soil from Fukushima was delivered Saturday to the Japanese prime minister’s office to be reused in an effort to showcase its safety.
This is the first soil to be used, aside from experiments, since the 2011 nuclear disaster when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a cataclysmic meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami that left large amounts of radioactive materials spewing out from the facility, polluting surrounding areas.
The government is desperate to set people’s minds at ease about recycling the 14 million cubic meters of decontaminated soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, collected after massive clean-ups and stored at a sprawling outdoor facility near the Fukushima plant. Officials have pledged to find final disposal sites by 2045.
The Environment Ministry said the 2 cubic meters, now at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office complex in Tokyo, will be used as foundation material in one section of the lawn garden, based on the ministry’s safety guidelines endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The soil does not include any from inside the plant.
Despite assurances, there has been much public unease. The government has already been forced to scrap a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests.


One dead, three missing after South Korea landslide

Updated 19 July 2025
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One dead, three missing after South Korea landslide

  • Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to ‘evacuate immediately to a safe area’
  • South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared

SEOUL: A landslide triggered by torrential rain killed at least one person in South Korea, the national fire agency said Saturday.

Three people were also missing after the landslide buried two houses in a village in southern Sancheong county, officials said, as heavy rain continued to pound the country.

“At least three people have been reported missing and we have recovered one body,” an official at Sancheong county fire station said.

The official said that one person in their twenties, and a couple in their seventies were reported missing.

Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to “evacuate immediately to a safe area.”

The county has a population of some 34,000 people.

South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but the country’s southern regions saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record this week, official weather data showed.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Saturday at least four people have been killed in rain-related accidents and more than 7,000 forced to evacuate their homes.

South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared and the death toll usually relatively low.

Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and frequent.

The country endured record-breaking rains and flooding in 2022 which killed at least 11 people.