Extremists are a threat to us all, Clinton says

US secretary of state begins three-day Gulf visit with talks in UAE on Iran, the Palestinians and the growing role of women in Middle East society.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces receives Hillary Clinton, the United States secretary of state.

ABU DHABI // Extremists exist all over the world and their views must not poison the debate between the Arab world and the West, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, told an audience in the capital yesterday.

"We have extremists in my country," Mrs Clinton said. She was referring to the gunman who shot six people dead and wounded 14, including the Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in Tucson on Saturday. "The extremists and their voices, the crazy voices that sometimes get on TV, that's not who we are, that's not who you are," Mrs Clinton said.

"What we have to do is get through that and make it clear that it doesn't represent either American or Arab ideas or opinions."

Mrs Clinton was speaking to a packed auditorium at Zayed University, where students made up the audience of Kalam Nawa'em, an MBC1 television show. The full programme will be broadcast on Sunday at midnight.

"Those who are engaged in terrorist activity are really against the entire world," she said. Terrorists "consistently" target Muslims, Mrs Clinton said.

"They may have launched an attack on us on 9/11 which was horrible and cost nearly 3,000 lives, but in the years since they have killed in so many other places," she said. "They would turn the clock back on everything that we've been talking about."

In a wide-ranging town hall-style meeting, Mrs Clinton took a tough line on Iran and noted the growing partnership between the US and the Arab world. She emphasised the role of women in Middle Eastern society, praising the Gulf countries for the growing part women played in government and diplomacy. She also acknowledged that challenges remained, such as breaking stereotypes of the role of women and empowering them so that they could balance family and work.

In her first public appearance during a three-nation tour of the Gulf, Mrs Clinton criticised Iran for what she said was its role in fomenting unrest in the region, particularly in Lebanon.

The Islamic Republic was not interested in peace between Israel and the Palestinians, she said.

"There is very little doubt that Iran does not want to see any kind of negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians," Mrs Clinton said. She said Iran wanted to divert attention away from its nuclear programme.

She said sanctions had slowed Iran's nuclear programme, and told students that if Tehran acquired nuclear weapons the region would be drawn into a devastating arms race. The UAE has pledged to enforce UN sanctions against Iran, the latest round of which was passed in June.

"The latest analysis is that the sanctions have been working; they have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions," she said. "I would ask those of you from countries here in the region, if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, won't you believe that you have to have a nuclear weapon too? It will be an arms race that will be extremely dangerous."

Her statement reflects a growing concern in the region that other Gulf countries would want to pursue nuclear weapons to counter Iran's influence. Another round of negotiations between Iran and representatives of the UN Security Council and Germany begins in Istanbul this month.

Asked about Israel's nuclear arsenal, Mrs Clinton said only that the US wanted a nuclear-free Middle East.

Earlier she had dismissed an assessment by the outgoing Mossad chief, Meir Dagan, to the Israeli Knesset that Iran would not be able to acquire a nuclear bomb until 2015. Mrs Clinton said the timeframe should not affect the pressure that the international community was bringing to bear on Iran.

"The timeline is not so important as the international effort to try to ensure that … Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons," she told reporters travelling with her to Abu Dhabi. "I don't know that it gives much comfort to somebody who is in the Gulf or is in a country that Iran has vowed to destroy that it's a one-year or three-year timeframe."

Mrs Clinton reiterated a US preference for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue, saying there should be more support for the Palestinian Authority but that Arabs also had to recognise Israel's legitimate security needs.

"The Israelis have the sense that when they left Lebanon what they got was Hizbollah with 40,000 rockets aimed at them, and when they left Gaza what they got was Hamas with 20,000 rockets aimed at them," she said.

Negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel broke down last year over Israel's refusal to extend a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.

"Each side has to make decisions that are very difficult for them," she said. But she added that both sides must take the risk for peace, taking advantage of a moment when the US president was pushing for a solution, the Palestinians had a competent government and Israel had a government that has the ability to deliver a peace agreement.

"Let's get ready now and deliver a two-state solution," she said.

Mrs Clinton referred to the release of secret diplomatic cables by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks as "theft of private communications", and said the US had the right to prosecute those who leaked the documents. She said the fallout from the release of the cables would not have lasting consequences, and that Gulf allies, who were portrayed as increasingly hawkish on Iran, had understood that the leaks were "unforeseen and unfortunate".

But she said in a briefing to travelling reporters that she had contacted many leaders on what she said was like an "apology tour" after the leaks.

On Sudan, Mrs Clinton said the Khartoum government deserved credit for allowing a referendum on southern independence, and called it a "courageous action".

Mrs Clinton said part of the goal of her tour was to expose a western audience to women in the region, to break the stereotype of oppressed Middle Eastern women, while accepting that challenges remained. "The changes I have seen are just the beginning," she said.

She said the Gulf states had to work to ensure that women who completed their education and participated in public life would retain the support and respect of their families.

Mrs Clinton met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the afternoon she left for Dubai to meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

In an address at Masdar, Abu Dhabi's green energy initiative, Mrs Clinton praised the UAE for positioning itself as a "centre of innovation and entrepreneurship" in the field of renewable energy, helping to "solve some of the most urgent challenges facing our planet".

"We are betting on Abu Dhabi and the UAE," she said.

Mrs Clinton leaves today for Oman, where she will take part in celebrations of the accession of Sultan Qaboos. She will then travel to Qatar for the Forum for the Future, to discuss how to strengthen the role of civil society in the Arab world, as well as youth participation and entrepreneurship. She will meet Gulf foreign ministers at the event.