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Arab States, With or Against? A Choice They'll Have to Make
CAIRO, Sept 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As the United States started gearing up for possible war, most Arab nations find themselves obliged to pledge their support. However, whether or not they will physically back military strikes, if it comes down to it, is yet unknown, a British journalist said Saturday.
Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and others, have all pledged their full assistance, reported the BBC's online news services Saturday.
"As reports emerge that Arab nationals are among the suspects, their governments have been quick to distance themselves from them," said the report.
There are likely to be limits to the extent of Arab co-operation. "The first reaction of many in the Arab world to news of Tuesday's attacks was one of denial. Surely, they said, no Arab or Muslim would ever commit a crime so heinous?"
"But, as reports build up that investigators are focusing their attention on suspects from the Middle East, most Arabs and their governments are quickly lining up behind America."
The initial suspects are thought to have come from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, BBC's report went on to say.
"All three of these governments have unequivocally pledged to give Washington whatever help it needs in fighting terrorism. The same goes for Jordan, Morocco and all the Gulf Arab states."
The report pointed out that there was a differentiation among Arab states of offering to fight terror and signing up to a Western-led military strike that targets Muslims.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called Friday on world leaders to convene an international conference to discuss combating international terrorism, saying such gatherings have become more than necessary, news agencies reported.
The Egyptian leader renewed condemnation of Tuesday's attacks, which targeted the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, describing them as "terrorist acts".
Meanwhile, a member of the Kuwaiti parliament, Walid al-Tabtabai, was questioned on arrival in Bermuda last Tuesday following the attacks in the United States, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported Saturday.
The Kuwaiti daily, as-Siyassa, claimed that al-Tabtabai was interrogated on his arrival as part of a parliamentary delegation. The newspaper quoted parliamentary sources as saying that the questioning was "normal procedure".
According to the report, Tabtabai, a former university professor in Islamic Shari'ah law, has described himself in several press statements as the representative for the "Taliban Movement" in Kuwait.
As-Siyassa reported Friday that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has questioned a Kuwaiti man in Florida in connection with this week's jetliner bombings in the United States.
In Kuwait itself, the U.S. Embassy there re-opened Saturday after its closure following this week's attacks, an embassy spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Kuwaitis were mobilizing to express their solidarity with the American people, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hundreds of Kuwaitis flocked to the American embassy's main gate Friday to offer condolences and show support for the U.S. in the wake of the Tuesday attacks.
Lawyer Salah al-Hashim, who was among those who gathered at the embassy, told AFP Saturday that a campaign has already been launched at the embassy to collect money for the American people.
"We want to show the whole world that the Kuwaitis are close friends with the American people, and we stand by them through these attacks, which we don't accept," al-Hashim said.
"We have started a campaign to collect money, which we will give to the U.S. ambassador in Kuwait. It will be a donation from the Kuwaiti people."
At least 20,000 troops are stationed in the Gulf - mainly in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and on ships based out of Bahrain - and tens of thousands of U.S. civilians live and work in the region.
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