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Arab
World in Disarray, Divided over Iraq
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"We
requested this postponement because it will be a delicate stage
and the days and hours will be very important to us," Sabri
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CAIRO,
February 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Arab world was
in disarray Monday, February 24, in its efforts to forge a common line
on U.S.-led war threats against Iraq, as calls by Baghdad to avoid a
rapid meeting put regional heavyweights Cairo and Damascus at
loggerheads.
Egypt,
which sees itself as the leader of the Arab world, struggled for weeks
to persuade other Arab governments of the need to bring forward the
Arab League's annual summit from its scheduled date of March 24 and on
Saturday had finally appeared to achieve a consensus on a March 1
meeting, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
However,
Iraq Sunday, February 23, requested
a delay of at least a fortnight pleading preoccupation with the UN
disarmament process, and despite strong opposition from Egypt Monday,
won the key support of Syria and its close ally Lebanon.
"Syria
had supported a March 1 date for the summit but is now backing Iraq's
request for a delay ... because the whole point of the summit is to
help Iraq and sustain it through difficult circumstances," the
head of its delegation to the Arab League, Yusef Ahmad, told AFP.
The
Syrian diplomat's comments came just hours after a strong appeal from
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for other Arab governments to ignore
Iraq's request for a delay until at least after March 14.
"It
is important that this summit be held right away and that the Arab
nation assume its responsibilities by adopting a clear position on the
need to avoid military action against Iraq," Information Minister
Safwat al-Sherif quoted the president as saying.
"It
would be inconceivable for the European Union, the Non-Aligned
Movement and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to hold
meetings (on the Iraq crisis) and for the Arab League not to bring its
summit forward from its scheduled date (of March 24), which would be
too late," said Mubarak, who is due to host the early summit in
the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The
new war of words between the key regional states came just two days
after Egypt finally appeared to win over the doubters with the
announcement of Lebanon that it was prepared to accept a March 1
meeting.
But
on Sunday, Iraq provided Lebanon and Syria with new ammunition for
holding out by formally requesting a delay until after March 14, when
one of its key Security Council sympathizers, France, has requested a
new briefing by UN disarmament chiefs.
"We
requested this postponement because from now until March 14, it will
be a delicate stage and the days and hours will be very important to
us," Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told the Qatar-based
satellite channel Al-Jazeera Monday.
"We
need every day and every hour to do our work in our relentless efforts
to answer the questions raised by UNMOVIC (the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission) within the framework of our
effective and comprehensive cooperation with the inspection
teams," the Iraqi Foreign Minister told the television.
Sabri
insisted that Iraq had already won the support of several countries
for its request, although this was initially denied by the Arab League
Secretariat.
"We
made this request yesterday and more and more Arab countries are
showing understanding for our position," he said.
Arab
League diplomats say Libya and other North African states have
questioned the wisdom of a rapid summit as well as Lebanon and Syria.
The
critics argue that an early meeting risks being hijacked by Arab
allies of Britain and the United States to back rapid military action
against Iraq.
Egypt
has been the most vocal champion of an early gathering but its calls
for an emergency summit later this month failed to achieve the
necessary consensus at an extraordinary foreign ministers' meeting in
Cairo on February 16.
That
meeting was chaired by Lebanon and, to the fury of some pro-Western
Arab states, issued a statement sharply critical of countries hosting
U.S. forces as part of the U.S.-led military buildup in the region.
But
the summit will be chaired by Bahrain, which had originally been
scheduled to host the annual summit and, as the home base of the U.S.
Fifth Fleet, is considered solidly pro-American.
Syria,
the sole Arab state which is also a member of the UN Security Council,
reiterated its strong anti-war line Monday. Arab states should
"not provide facilities to American forces," a
Damascus-based Palestinian group quoted Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass
as saying in a meeting.
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