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Article: IRAN-SAUDI ARABIA: RAPPROCHEMENT UPSETS U.S.
- Article from:
- Inter Press Service English News Wire
- Article date:
- April 2, 1997
- Author:
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Dilip Hiro
Inter Press Service English News Wire
04-02-1997
LONDON, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- One of the highlights of this year's
upcoming "hajj" in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when Muslim pilgrims walk
around the sacred Black Stone, the Kaaba, will be the participation
of Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
This year's hajj, which begins April 14, will mark a new chapter
in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two of the three main
powers in the Gulf. (Iraq is the third.) Though both countries are
ruled by sharia, the Islamic Law, their relations have rarely
progressed beyond cold tolerance, and occasionally fallen into
outright hostility.
Saudi Arabia is a long-standing and close ally of the ...