FRANCE 24, 21 May 2017 – US President Donald Trump addressed the leaders of many Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh on Sunday in a major speech that is being seen as an effort to reset US relations with the Muslim world.
Addressing more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders, Trump said the United States had one main goal in the region: to aid allies in rooting out terrorism.
Trump vowed US support in the battle against extremism but called on Middle Eastern nations to step up their efforts to combat radicalisation and to deny militants refuge on their territories, saying that Muslim-majority nations “must take the lead”.
“America is prepared to stand with you – in pursuit of shared interests and common security,” he said.
“But the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them,” he continued. “The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries and, frankly, for their families and for their children.”
“We can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong – and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden.”
TRUMP’S SPEECH IN RIYADH
Trump’s speech served as the highlight of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first official visit overseas as US president.
He said regional leaders must prevent terrorists from gaining a foothold on their territories.
“Drive them out,” he exhorted. “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities.”
“Honestly confronting” Islamist extremism and terrorism “means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians,” he said.
Trump called for clerics and imams to address the problem head on by warning the faithful against choosing the path of violence.
“Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear: Barbarism will deliver you no glory – piety to evil will bring you no dignity,” he said.
“If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and your soul will be fully condemned.”
Untapped potential
Trump went on to say there is much untapped potential across the Middle East that is “held at bay by bloodshed and terror”.
“There can be no co-existence with this violence,” he added.
Trump portrayed the struggle as one shared by all “decent people” of any religion.
“This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil.”
The current refugee crisis is a tragedy of “epic proportions” that has become a “humanitarian and security disaster”, Trump said.
And it is regional nations that have “borne the brunt of the killings and the worst of the destruction in this wave of fanatical violence”.
The “true toll” of the militancy promoted by the Islamic State group, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and others can be seen in the “generations of vanished dreams”, he said.
“This region should not be a place from which refugees flee, but to which newcomers flock.”
Isolating Iran
Trump praised regional powers including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and United Arab Emirates for their efforts in combating terrorism.
But he singled out Iran for sowing the seeds of “instability” in the region by providing terrorists with “safe harbour, financial backing and the social standing needed for recruitment”.
“From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region,” Trump said.
He urged regional leaders to “isolate” Iran until the leadership in Tehran made progress in becoming an international partner.
“Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate it … and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve.”
“Terrorism has spread all across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land,” Trump said.
