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Arabs Rebuff U.S. Request To Send Troops To Iraq
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"There was an agreement that (sending) Arab forces cannot be considered in the current circumstances," said Moussa
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CAIRO,
Aug 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
In a new disappointment to the United States, which is leaving
no stone un-turned in looking for troops to soften the Iraqis
resistance hit on its forces, Arab foreign ministers unanimously
rebuffed Tuesday, August 5, an American request to send troops to
stabilize Iraq.
"There
was an agreement that (sending) Arab forces cannot be considered in
the current circumstances, " Arab League Secretary General Amr
Moussa told reporters after the meeting.
"We
should work to put an end to the occupation and allow the Iraqi people
form a national government," he stressed.
An
Arab official explained that the U.S. request of sending troops was
"discussed informally and struck off the agenda because there was
no hope of reaching a consensus" at the meeting of the Arab
follow-up committee, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He
said many members considered sending troops to help the Americans
would be tantamount to helping the U.S.-led occupation of the fellow
Arab country.
Egyptian
newspaper Al-Ahram on Tuesday ran an editorial along
those lines:" Arab nations refuse on principle to play policeman
to protect the Americans or quash Iraqi resistance.
"From
the American point of view, it would be ideal to have Arab troops in
Iraq... It imply Arab recognition of the occupation to the extent of
helping secure its continuation," it wrote.
The
U.S. named Tuesday the size of the foreign forces replacing them in
September under Polish command in the southern Iraqi provinces of
An-Najaf, Karbala, Babil, Wasit and Qadisiyah.
The
core foreign contingents will be 3,200 Dutch, 2,500 Poles, 1,644
Ukrainians, 1,321 Spanish, 1,130 Italians and 886 Thais, the Marines
said in a statement.
However,
the other deployments are far more piecemeal and have raised eyebrows
in some quarters on whether the virtual casserole of nations will be
effective in keeping the peace.
The
smaller deployments are: Bulgaria (480); Hungary (441); El Salvador
(360); Honduras (360); Dominican Republic (300); Romania (205);
Mongolia (174); Latvia (103); Slovenia (82); Lithuania (45);
Kazakhstan (27); the Philippines (177); and Nicaragua (120).
Not
Recognized
On
the U.S.-handpicked Iraqi governing council, Bahraini Foreign Minister
Sheikh Mohammad bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, who chaired the meeting, said
the Arab League was open to a dialogue with members of the council,
but "did not recognize this body as a legitimate
government."
The
minister circumvented a question on the Arabs' position regarding
Iraqi resistance attacks targeting U.S. and British occupation forces.
"That
is an Iraqi matter. We hope and we work for the stability of Iraq and
the establishment of a national independent government," he
replied.
Moussa,
for his part, said the pan-Arab organization is ready to deal with the
council, which paves the way for establishing "a legitimate Iraqi
government that can be recognized."
On
the Iraqi representation in the League, Moussa said an Iraqi
government must be established first to represent Iraq.
Sheikh
Mubarak echoed Moussa's statements, adding that the future government
should be elected by the people of Iraq.
The
United States, however, called anew Tuesday the Arab League to give
its backing to the Iraqi Governing Council.
"We
believe that all Arab nations should welcome the Governing Council and
provide expressions of support," Deputy State Department
spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters.
"We
have made that view clear. We have communicated that to Arab
governments," he said.
"We
think it is important that this structure be given support from the
region as well as the international community more broadly."
The
American spokesman declined to comment on what Washington would like
Arab League members to offer the three-week-old, 25-member Governing
Council, saying only that the United States wanted to see
"expressions of support."
On
the Arab refusal to send troops to Iraq under current circumstances,
Reeker said he did not believe the decision was necessarily final.
U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell had called Moussa on Sunday, August 3,
to press the U.S. case ahead of the foreign ministers meeting, Reeker
recalled.
He
added that the State Department sent cables to its embassies in Arab
countries over the weekend asking diplomats there to make the case in
person with officials from their host governments.
The
Governing Council opened its inaugural session on July 13, by
declaring April 9, the day U.S.-led forces rolled into
Baghdad, a national holiday in its first act as a ruling body.
Thousands
of Iraqis demonstrated
in Baghdad on July 18 against the Governing Council and its decision
to declare the day of Baghdad fall as a national holiday.
They
slammed the U.S. hollow promises to spread democracy and restore
situation back to normal in Iraq.
7-Member
Committee
The
Bahrani foreign minister further announced the set up of a
seven-member committee to follow up the Iraqi issue, made up of Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Syria, Qatar, Jordan and Tunisia.
"The
committee's main task is to coordinate between and hold talks with
Arab states and other international organizations, so that Arab states
could act in unison regarding all Iraqi issues," he said.
Sheikh
Mubarak added that Arab states were "ready to take part in
rebuilding the new Iraq in all (economic) fields", insisting that
Arabs should not be lagging behind the international effort to rescue
the war-ravaged country.
An
Arab diplomat who requested anonymity said Syrian Foreign Minister
Farouq al-Shara stressed "the need for a mechanism that allows
Arab states to help the Iraqi people get past the crisis".
Shara
"stressed that the Arab League and the United Nations should play
a role in solving the Iraqi question through ending the occupation and
allowing the Iraqi people govern itself", the diplomat added.
The
closed-doors meeting asserted that all Arab states would do everything
possible to make Iraq restore its stability, security, sovereignty and
wealth and were determined to bring Iraq back to the Arab fold and act
in concert.
It
further called for an end to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and
establishing a legitimate Iraqi government as soon as possible and in
accordance with a specific timetable.
The
Arab follow-up committee is made up of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and
Palestine.
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