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Blair Visits Egypt, Vows Arabs Will Not be Divided from the West
CAIRO, Oct 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Following the footsteps of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, British Prime Minister Tony Blair lobbied for support in several Arab nations, news agencies reported.
In Cairo, Blair said that terrorists will not be allowed to "divide" Arabs from the West, gaining Egyptian backing for a "united" front against terror.
Blair, Washington's chief ally in the campaign against terror, said those who plotted the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington aimed not only to kill thousands of people, but also to "divide people across the whole of the world."
"Our response has got to be to say to these people, you will not divide us at this time. We know the game that you are playing, we know how you are trying to use and usurp forces around the world to gain your own ends," he said.
Middle East analysts are warning that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born billionaire whom the United States has accused of masterminding the attacks, has been gaining hero status among Arabs and Muslims frustrated with the West.
The British prime minister appealed to "people of all faiths, of all political persuasions" to join the campaign, pointing out that, "the blood of many hundreds of Muslims was spilt in those terrible attacks."
"We will stand united in our fight to see international terrorism defeated and the proper rule of law put in place," he said after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Washington and London have received the backing of Egypt for their strikes against Afghanistan where bin Laden is believed to be hiding out, but public opinion and the Egyptian press are still resolutely opposed.
Blair, who later left Cairo, has been the focus of scathing criticism in the Egyptian government press for playing an overblown "zealous" role in the fight against terrorism.
Mubarak, meanwhile, called for "all countries of the world, large or small, developed or developing" to stand "united and tough" in eliminating terrorism.
The British prime minister arrived in Egypt from Oman amid intensive contacts with Arab leaders to maintain wide support for U.S.-British strikes in Afghanistan and play down the lack of popular Arab and Muslim backing for the military operations.
He also recognized the effect the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict has on world stability and fuelling terrorism and stressed the need to reinvigorate peace efforts.
"It is important that we put this peace process back on track so that there are not generations of people who then will abuse the Palestinian cause in order to commit acts of terrorism," Blair added.
Mubarak, matching his comments, predicted there would be "no safety on our planet" without a comprehensive solution to the Middle East's problems, warned that the problem would generate more terrorism.
But Mubarak also raised the sensitive issue of London's policy towards Egyptian religious opposition members who have been granted asylum in Britain, saying he discussed with Blair the need to refrain from "providing citizenship for terrorists under political or humanitarian pretext."
Several Egyptians considered "terrorists" by Cairo have been granted asylum by London, including two sentenced in absentia for their role in the 1994 attempted assassination of then prime minister Atef Sedki.
The official Egyptian press has also expressed concern that the current strikes on Taliban targets and Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden's positions in Afghanistan might spill over into other Arab states in the Middle East, such as Iraq or Lebanon.
"Egyptian officials and other Arab officials have made it clear that while they are not particularly enthusiastic on the level of military action taken in Afghanistan, they do understand ... the reasons why the U.S. is going after the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"But they have made it clear that when it comes to Iraq, that is a whole different ball game, and that Arab support - cautious as it may be - for the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism, could collapse in the event that the U.S. and its allies turn their attention to Iraq," said CNN.
Blair, who had earlier refused to rule out military action being taken against other countries in the war against terrorism, did not touch on the subject during his press conference with Mubarak.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia asked Blair to call off a visit he sought to pay to the kingdom, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily,
Asharq al-Awsat, said Thursday.
The newspaper, which is close to the government in Riyadh, hinted that Saudi Arabia did not want to host Blair so long as Britain takes part in the U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan.
Citing an "informed source" in London, it said the visit, which had been due to take place on Wednesday, was not cleared "because the Saudi leadership is aware of its role and status in the Arab and Islamic worlds."
Blair, who was in neighboring Oman Wednesday, "telephoned Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz [on Tuesday] in a bid to change the Saudi position," but to no avail,
Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The official Saudi news agency (SPA) also reported that Blair telephoned Abdullah in order to assure him that the U.S.-British strikes on Afghanistan were not aimed at Islam or Muslims.
"What is happening in Afghanistan is aimed at combating terrorism and does not target Islam or Muslims anywhere in the world, and that includes the Muslim Afghan people," SPA quoted Blair as saying.
Prior to his trip to Cairo, Blair rallied 23,000 British troops and held talks with Sultan Qaboos in Oman in an effort to shore up the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.
Britain's ambassador in Qatar, David Wright, held talks Wednesday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal - who was in Doha attending Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meetings of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers - presumably about the current U.S.-British campaign against Afghanistan.
Saudi Arabia, where some 6,000 U.S. troops are stationed, has made it clear it will not provide logistical aid for the U.S.-led military reprisals against Afghanistan, a fellow Muslim country.
Saudi Arabia is home to Islam's holiest sites: Mecca and Medina.
Speaking to reporters on his flight to Egypt from Oman, Blair said that air strikes alone would not win the U.S. war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
He declined to say whether ground troops would be used, but said extra measures would be needed to back up an air campaign launched by the United States and Britain on Sunday.
"The precise nature of the next stages of action is not sensible to discuss at the moment, but we have always been aware that you have to back up air strikes with other forms of targeted actions," Blair said.
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