France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Reuters
Saudi Arabia's Foriegn Minister Adel Al-Jubeir affirmed on Thursday that the Kingdom and France have enjoyed an extended relationship for over a century now, highlighting shared views on challenges in the region, including the Palestinian Cause, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iranian interference.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Jubeir said the two powers also share a common view on confronting terrorism and extremism.
The top Saudi diplomat also stressed that the two countries have displayed a desire to intensify cooperation in counter-extremism and anti-terrorism efforts.
This came during a press conference held here today by Minister of Foreign Affairs with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, where Jubeir welcomed the French minister who is currently visiting the Kingdom.
Jubeir also highlighted the meetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz held with the French Foreign Minister, describing them as positive and constructive meetings reflecting the historical and strategic relations between the two friendly countries.
Jubeir pointed out to his talks with his French counterpart in addition to consensus of views of the two countries towards the issues in the region.
France's stance towards targeting Riyadh City with a ballistic missile launched by Iran-backed Houthi militia with the support of Hezbollah found praise in Jubeir's remarks.
He also appreciated France's stance towards supporting Lebanon as well as stability in Syria, in addition to seeking a solution in Yemen based on UN Security Council Resolution No. 2216, Gulf initiative and the outcomes of the national dialogue.
For his part, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes within the framework of an old and solid partnership, stressing his country's determination to strengthen this partnership in the future.
Le Drian highlighted his meeting with the King Salman and the Crown Prince, as well as Jubeir, stressing that the views of the two countries are identical on several issues. He also stressed France's keenness on the stability and sovereignty of Lebanon.
He pointed out that the humanitarian situation in Yemen was discussed in addition to the measures that must be taken to deliver humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people. He also pointed out that regional crises were reviewed and efforts to contribute to resolving them were discussed, especially the situation in Syria and Iraq.
He also said that Iran's role and actions were addressed, especially its interference in regional crises and its ballistic program.
Lockheed Martin: Saudi Arabia Is Strategic Choice for Global Defense Hubhttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5242319-lockheed-martin-saudi-arabia-strategic-choice-global-defense-hub
Lockheed Martin: Saudi Arabia Is Strategic Choice for Global Defense Hub
Lockheed Martin took part in the recent World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia’s push to localize half of its defense spending under Vision 2030 is drawing deeper commitments from US defense giant Lockheed Martin, which says it will expand local manufacturing, transfer advanced technologies, and further integrate the Kingdom into its global aerospace and defense supply chains.
Building Saudi partnerships
Steve Sheehy, vice president for international business development at Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division, said the company is stepping up efforts to partner with both established and emerging Saudi aerospace firms.
Lockheed Martin is looking to build partnerships across maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as component manufacturing and repair, particularly in advanced avionics, Sheehy told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Speaking after the company’s participation in the World Defense Show in Riyadh, he said Lockheed Martin is also targeting emerging fields such as additive manufacturing, from plastics to metals, and advanced composite materials.
The goal, he said, is twofold: plug gaps in the company’s global supply chain while transferring know-how and strengthening local capabilities in a mutually beneficial model.
Sheehy described the Saudi aerospace sector as established and growing. He also noted that it has a solid base in maintenance and manufacturing, as well as a clear shift toward advanced technologies, creating room for deeper collaboration between national firms and global industry leaders.
Alignment with Vision 2030
Retired Brigadier General Joseph Rank, chief executive of Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia and Africa, said the company’s strategy in the Kingdom is rooted in a long-term partnership aligned with Vision 2030, especially the target of localizing 50 percent of defense spending.
Lockheed Martin, he said, is focused on transferring knowledge and advanced technologies, developing local industrial capabilities and building an integrated defense ecosystem that positions Saudi Arabia firmly within global supply chains.
Rank said the company is working closely with government entities and national companies to strengthen local manufacturing, empower Saudi talent and establish a sustainable industrial base that supports innovation and creates high-quality jobs.
Lockheed Martin is advancing manufacturing and repair work on defense equipment, including components of the THAAD air defense system, missile launch platforms, and interceptor missile canisters, in cooperation with Saudi partners, Rank said.
The company has also opened a maintenance center in Riyadh for the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod system, the first of its kind in the Middle East, to enhance maintenance and technical support capabilities.
Beyond hardware, Lockheed Martin is investing in transferring and localizing advanced technologies in air defense, command and control, and digital manufacturing. It is also supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs and hands-on training in cooperation with national universities.
Broad local network
Rank said the company relies on a wide network of partners in the Kingdom. At the forefront are the General Authority for Military Industries, the main government partner in localization agreements, and Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a key manufacturing and technology transfer partner.
Other collaborators include the Advanced Electronics Company for advanced systems maintenance, the Middle East Propulsion Company and AIC Steel for producing THAAD components and platforms, and the National Company for Mechanical Systems for advanced manufacturing technologies.
Academic partnerships extend to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, King Saud University, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, supporting research and developing national talent.
Localizing aerospace manufacturing
Rank said localizing aerospace manufacturing is a strategic priority. Lockheed Martin has launched projects to produce interceptor missile launch platforms and canisters inside the Kingdom and awarded contracts for key components to Saudi companies, qualifying them to join its global supply network beyond the US.
The company is evaluating and qualifying hundreds of Saudi firms to produce defense equipment to international standards, focusing on technology transfer and building local expertise as a step toward manufacturing more integrated systems in the future.
Company officials said the approach goes beyond supplying systems. It centers on technology transfer, digital manufacturing, and command-and-control systems, laying the groundwork for the production of integrated systems in the Kingdom and strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a regional hub for aerospace and defense.
Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Tried to Assassinate King Hussein with Missile Given to Wadie Haddadhttps://english.aawsat.com/interviews/5242281-obeidat-asharq-al-awsat-gaddafi-tried-assassinate-king-hussein-missile-given
Obeidat to Asharq Al-Awsat: Gaddafi Tried to Assassinate King Hussein with Missile Given to Wadie Haddad
King Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi holding talks on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo in 1970 (AFP).
In the second installment of his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, former Jordanian prime minister and intelligence chief Ahmad Obeidat recounts details of a missile plot to assassinate King Hussein, which he says was backed by Muammar Gaddafi and carried out through operatives linked to Wadie Haddad, head of the external operations arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Obeidat, who also served as head of intelligence and as minister of interior and defense, revisits the confrontation between Israeli forces, the Jordanian army, and Palestinian guerrillas (fedayeen) in the border town of Karameh in March 1968, asserting that the Jordanian army “decided the battle,” but suffered a “moral defeat amid the fedayeen’s claims of victory.”
Obeidat died earlier this month. The interview was recorded before the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” whose aftermath delayed its publication. Below is the text of the second installment.
King Hussein inspects an Israeli tank left behind by occupying forces during the Battle of Karameh (Getty)
“Battle of Karameh”
Obeidat calls Karameh “a pivotal point of utmost importance,” especially for an army still reeling from the 1967 defeat and its withdrawal from the West Bank.
“The army lived the bitterness of that defeat,” he says. “It felt a moral, national, and pan-Arab responsibility.”
Karameh, he argues, offered a chance to restore the army’s fighting morale and reclaim some of its lost dignity.
“It was the army that settled the battle,” Obeidat says.
He credits Jordanian forces with thwarting Israeli attempts to build crossing bridges, destroying their vehicles on Jordanian soil and forcing, for the first time in Israel’s history, a request for a ceasefire. “The late King Hussein refused,” he adds.
Israel, he says, did not acknowledge a fifth of its casualties. Helicopters were evacuating the wounded who were “dripping with blood.”
He singles out artillery observation officers who advanced to the closest possible positions, relaying precise coordinates even as they effectively marked their own locations for shelling.
“The Jordanian soldier would identify his position near the Israeli army to be shelled,” he says, describing a willingness to die in order to restore dignity after the 1967 setback.
He says the declaration of “armed struggle” effectively erased the army’s role, presenting Palestinian fedayeen as the victors over Israel. “They monopolized the victory and ignored the army’s role entirely,” Obeidat says. “We emerged with a moral defeat in the face of their claims.”
He alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars in donations collected afterward, much of it going to Fatah, did not reach the Palestinian people but went to organizations and their leaders.
When the army entered Amman in September 1970, Obeidat says, it aimed to end what he describes as chaos: armed displays, roadblocks, arrests of soldiers on leave and interference in courts.
“The army swept areas without distinguishing between Jordanian and Palestinian,” he says. “It wanted to restore control over security, nothing more.”
He later describes what he calls a “state within a state,” extending from the Jordan Valley to Amman, after armed groups asserted authority over courts, roads, and civilian life.
On Syria’s intervention, Obeidat says Syrian forces entered northern Jordan flying Palestine Liberation Organization flags.
He later learned the decision was political, taken by the Baath Party, and that then-Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad complied reluctantly before Syrian tanks withdrew.
Iraq, he says, did not intervene. Obeidat affirms that he was told by Iraqi officials that neither the Iraqi state nor its forces intended to participate in any operation aimed at ending the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan.
According to one account, Iraqi leaders did not want to shoulder the political and diplomatic burden of the Palestinian issue or risk an uncalculated adventure.
He recounts another account, which he says he cannot adopt, according to which the operations command in the army was handled by a Pakistani figure. Under this account, Zia ul-Haq was receiving operational communications and sending messages that caused confusion among Iraqi and other forces, leading them to believe they would confront powerful strike units, prompting them to remain in a state of alert rather than engage.
He also recalls a meeting in which Palestinian figures, including Abu Iyad, reproached Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. Al-Bakr replied: “We are a state with one life. If we make a fundamental mistake, we end. You are like cats with seven lives.”
As director of intelligence, Obeidat says he dealt directly with operations attributed to Haddad.
Between 1975 and 1977, he says, a missile was sent to Jordan with a group led by a Jordanian, Brik al-Hadid, affiliated with the PFLP. The target was King Hussein’s aircraft.
“The intention was to strike the plane, with Gaddafi’s knowledge and approval,” Obeidat says.
Jordanian intelligence monitored the group from the outset and later arrested its members. The king’s aircraft departed Marka military airport as scheduled but flew in the opposite direction to its planned route as a precaution, using jamming devices against any incoming missiles.
When confronted by Mudar Badran, then head of the Royal Court, Gaddafi denied knowledge. “I have no information,” Obeidat quotes him as saying.
Obeidat describes the aircraft hijackings orchestrated by Haddad as “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” contributing to the army’s intervention.
He says Jordanian intelligence had infiltrated Fatah and monitored its leaders, including Abu Iyad and Abu Yusuf al-Najjar.
In mid-1972, intelligence learned that Abu Dawood and a group were planning to enter Jordan from Baghdad to seize the Jordanian cabinet during a session and hold ministers hostage in exchange for the release of detained Fatah members.
The group crossed in three Mercedes cars, dressed in traditional Arab attire, with weapons concealed inside the seats and forged passports in hand. They were arrested at the border after a thorough search.
Obeidat rejects claims by Abu Iyad that Abu Dawood was tortured, insisting that “not a single hair on his head was touched,” and says Abu Dawood confessed only after realizing the operation had been fully uncovered.
Later, King Hussein met Abu Dawood’s parents, who pleaded for clemency. The king read the full confession and then met Abu Dawood himself. He ultimately ordered his release, honoring a promise he had made to Abu Dawood’s parents.
In Obeidat’s view, Abu Dawood was affected by the king’s treatment of his parents and “did not pose any future threat to Jordan.”
Obeidat describes a direct relationship between King Hussein and the General Intelligence Department.
The king met with officers regularly, not only to hear briefings but also to hear their personal views. Security presentations would include Crown Prince Hassan, senior advisers, army commanders, the public security chief, the Royal Court chief, and the prime minister.
“Sometimes,” Obeidat says, “it was necessary to elaborate orally before the king on certain matters so they would not circulate more widely.”
Obeidat says the late King Hussein maintained a direct relationship with the General Intelligence Department, meeting regularly with senior officers and listening not only to intelligence briefings but also to their personal assessments.
When security briefings were presented before the king, Crown Prince Hassan would attend, along with royal advisers, senior army commanders, the public security chief, the head of the Royal Court, and the prime minister.
Obeidat says he would submit reports to the prime minister and also meet with the king. When addressing the king, however, it was sometimes necessary to elaborate verbally on certain issues so that such information would not circulate among staff. He met with the king regularly.
When he was asked to present a security briefing before the king, the late King Hussein would summon Crown Prince Hassan. The king’s advisers would also attend, along with senior army commanders, the public security leadership, the head of the Royal Court, and the prime minister. The briefing of the security report would include an explanation of the security situation and any external or internal challenges.
US Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia University Palestinian Activisthttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5242263-us-judge-blocks-deportation-columbia-university-palestinian-activist
US Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia University Palestinian Activist
Mohsen Mahdawi at a press conference in Vermont last year - Photo by Alex Driehaus/AP
A US immigration judge has blocked the deportation of a Palestinian graduate student who helped organize protests at Columbia University against Israel's war in Gaza, according to US media reports.
Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration agents last year as he was attending an interview to become a US citizen.
Mahdawi had been involved in a wave of demonstrations that gripped several major US university campuses since Israel began a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian born in the occupied West Bank, Mahdawi has been a legal US permanent resident since 2015 and graduated from the prestigious New York university in May. He has been free from federal custody since April.
In an order made public on Tuesday, Judge Nina Froes said that President Donald Trump's administration did not provide sufficient evidence that Mahdawi could be legally removed from the United States, multiple media outlets reported.
Froes reportedly questioned the authenticity of a copy of a document purportedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Mahdawi's activism "could undermine the Middle East peace process by reinforcing antisemitic sentiment," according to the New York Times.
Rubio has argued that federal law grants him the authority to summarily revoke visas and deport migrants who pose threats to US foreign policy.
The Trump administration can still appeal the decision, which marked a setback in the Republican president's efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian campus activists.
The administration has also attempted to deport Mahmoud Khalil, another student activist who co-founded a Palestinian student group at Columbia, alongside Mahdawi.
"I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government's attempts to trample on due process," Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys and published Tuesday by several media outlets.
"This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice."
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