LaRouche Keynotes Conference in Abu Dhabi

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., pre-candidate for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination in 2004, was the keynote speaker at a conference on "Oil And Gas in World Politics," organized June 2-3 by the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up, in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The conference gathered leading Arab political figures from the major oil-producing states in the Gulf, including oil ministers and experts. Among them were H.E. Obeid Bin Saif Al-Nasseri, Minister of Oil and Mineral resources, UAE; Dr. Ubaid bin Masood Al-Jahni, Chairman of the Arab Gulf Center for Energy and Strategic Studies; H.E. Essam Abdul-Aziz Al-Galabi, former Iraqi Minister of Oil; Mr. Atef Mohammed Al Jemaili, Director of International Relations, Kuweit Petroleum Corporation; Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Hameed Isma'el, Advisor to the Minister of Oil and Mineral resources, UAE; Mr. Abdul Al-Awadi, oil advisor, Kuweit; Dr. Hussein Abdullah, economist and former undersecretary at Iraqi Oil Ministry; Dr. Anwar Abdullah, Director of the Energy Department of the Gulf Cooperation Council General Secretariat.

The conference took place at a moment of great tension in the region, due to the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, mooted U.S. plans to launch an attack against Iraq, oil price instability, and propaganda campaigns claiming Gulf oil will be replaced by that of Russia, Cantral Asia and the Caucasus. The organization which arranged the gathering, the Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up (ZCCF), is an important forum for Arab-Arab and Arab-international discussion, which has a dense program of activities, sponsoring single lectures on a regular basis, and international conferences several times a year. It was founded in 1997, on the initiative of the UAE president, and headquartered in Abu Dhabi. The ZCCF is under the high patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Chairman of the center and Deputy Prime Minister, who presided over the opening session which LaRouche keynoted. The center, operating under the umbrella of the League of Arab States, is recognized by leading Arab powers, as a crucial intellectual and political institution. Just prior to the conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal praised the efforts of the ZCCF, in a letter to the center, "expressing his appreciation of the role played by the ZCCF in tackling issues of the Arab world... [and] in developing a concept of integration and unity in the Arab and Islamic countries."

The ZCCF emphasized in pre-conference releases issued to all the major Arabic press, that it "does not want this dialogue to be an Arab-to-Arab dialogue, but ... an Arab dialogue with all parties in the world that are interested in the issues and future of the Arab world." The release added that the conference "would be an appropriate opportunity for the attendance by the major American politician and presidential candidate in previous and coming elections, Lyndon LaRouche.... The invitation ... was extended to him as an appreciation of the positive stances expressed by LaRouche towards the causes of the Arab nation and the just causes in all parts of the world in general."

LaRouche's keynote, entitled "The Middle East as a Strategic Crossroad," is available on larouchein2004.com, larouchepub.com and zccf.org.ae.

In recent months, other American political figures have given lectures at the ZCCF, among them, former Undersecretary of State Richard Murphy, former Vice President Al Gore and former Secretary of State James Baker III.

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