A rchive Date
[ 24-03-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Egypt ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/Iraq/2003/03/24/50130-ap.html
Arabs demand immediate withdrawal
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
Mon, March 24, 2003
CAIRO (AP) - After a meeting marred by deep divisions, the Arab League called Monday for the United States and Britain to withdraw their troops from Iraq immediately and without conditions.
The U.S.-British attack on Iraq was "a violation of the UN Charter" and a "threat to world peace," the 22-member League said in a final resolution. Kuwait entered the lone no vote because the resolution omitted any reference to the 10 Iraqi missiles that have landed on its soil since the conflict last week.
While several representatives chose their words carefully during the four hour session - their territories are hosting U.S. forces - the chief Libyan delegate won sustained applause when he hailed the "Iraqi heroism" in the battle against American and British troops. "We have to raise our heads high and salute Iraqi heroism as proof that Arab individuals are capable of confronting the mighty, the coercive and the arrogant," Ali al-Treiki said, referring to U.S.-led forces.
Opening the session, al-Treiki warned the delegates that "if Iraq is to fall, many Arab countries will fall as well."
The remark played on the concern among Arab leaders that allowing the United States to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would set a precedent that could be dangerous to their own undemocratic regimes.
Kuwaiti representative Ahmed Khaled al-Kulaib sat through the Libyan speech in stony silence.
Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber Al Thani, barely tapped his fingers together. Qatar hosts the U.S. campaign's military headquarters. Sheik Hamad told reporters: "It would have been better concentrating on practical solutions to find a way out."
Antiwar demonstrations have been frequent, large and at times violent throughout the Middle East. But widespread expressions of popular anger have not managed to bring Arab states together over the Iraqi crisis. Attempts to discuss the pending U.S. invasion at high-level meetings this month led to public exchanges of insults between Iraqi, Libyan, Saudi and Kuwaiti delegates.
On arrival for Monday's meeting, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri accused those Arab countries hosting U.S.-led forces of "stabbing the Iraqi people in the back." Sabri said he wanted a "unified stance from the Arabs . . . to condemn this occupation, to stop the war immediately and withdraw the invaders." He got much support from Syria which had circulated a draft resolution that called for condemning the invasion and demanding an immediate withdrawal.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters that the resolution he wanted to see was one that affirmed "rejection of the military operation, rejection of occupation, and calling for immediate withdrawal. "It is time to solve the issue peacefully," al-Faisal said.
Kuwait's al-Kulaib lobbied hard for the meeting to take account of the Iraqi missiles fired into his territory - some intercepted by Patriot missiles, others fell harmlessly in the desert or water. In the end, the final resolution went the Iraqi way, and Kuwait lodged its objections.
The League condemned the invasion of Iraq and demanded "the immediate withdrawal of the American and British troops from Iraq without conditions," the resolution said.
It added that Arab states would request an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council. If the request was not granted, they would call for the UN General Assembly to hold an emergency session on the war.
Al-Kulaib said Kuwait regarded the resolution as "unbalanced" because "it doesn't indicate the Iraqi attacks on my country."
Iraq's Sabri was pleased with the text, saying: "It represents the consensus of the Arab community - that no Arab country participates in the crime of imperialist aggression against Iraq."
But while Iraq got the words it wanted, it did not get much in terms of deeds.
Libya's al-Treiki acknowledged that "our decisions in this summit, and other summits, are less than the ambitions of our people."
Asked what action would flow from the meeting, League Secretary General Amr Moussa replied: "Requesting an urgent meeting (of the UN Security Council) is our action."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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