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Arab Leaders Ignore Street Anger, Throw Lot In With West
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Arab
leaders ignored street Anger |
CAIRO, April 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Arab states are accused of ignoring angry Arab streets and throwing their lot in with the West to halt Israel's invasion of Palestinian land, as a top Palestinian official lashed out Sunday at Arab Foreign Ministers for failing to take a firm stance against Israel's aggressions,
Instead of acting on angry calls from the Arab street to sever ties with Israel, top Arab diplomats sought UN and U.S. help to stop the onslaught, analysts said Sunday.
"Cool heads prevailed in this meeting" of Arab foreign ministers and ambassadors at the 22-member Arab League, Egyptian political analyst Abdel Moneim Said told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We have to balance between the street and the major allies," while trying to minimize Israeli actions and keep long-term options open for peace, said Said, head of state-run Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
Said and other analysts are, however, far from sure about the chances of success for the so-called new U.S. drive - embodied by Secretary of State Colin Powell's upcoming peace mission - to stop Sharon's massacres.
Said said the region was heading through a sensitive and critical time, "pregnant with the possibility of escalation" as passions are running so high on all fronts.
The Arabs have pinned much of their hopes on Powell's mission, which comes hard on the heels of Bush's call for an immediate halt to the 10-day Israeli invasion.
"It all depends on Powell," veteran Egyptian diplomat Tahsin Bashir told AFP when asked about the results of the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting.
But at the same time he echoed a Palestinian and broader Arab concern that the United States may be backing Sharon's drive to send Arafat into exile.
"They want to give him enough time to finish off the Palestinians," Bashir said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian international cooperation minister Nabil Shaath sought, in Cairo, measures to protect Arafat, who is holed up in his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah, from Israel's efforts to drive him into exile.
"With all its strength, the [ministers] oppose the maneuvers aimed at President Arafat, the siege imposed on him and threats against his life," the final statement of the emergency Arab meeting said.
Shaath at first asked the ministers to refuse to meet with Powell if the U.S. official spurned Arafat, but the ministers gave no such promise, saying it was important to speak with Powell whether he sees Arafat or not.
Palestinian parliamentary speaker Ahmed Qorei, interviewed Sunday on Egyptian TV, said the Arab Foreign Ministers attempted "to postpone taking any effective decisions to stop the Israeli aggression" during their meeting in Cairo late Saturday.
"The Foreign Ministers did not take the measures needed to stop the Israeli massacres," Qorei said.
He added that the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Israel at the end of the week would offer "more time for new Israeli massacres."
Top Arab diplomats issued a call for an immediate session of the UN Security Council, regarding Israel's deadly blitz that left Palestinian President Yasser Arafat under siege in Ramallah, and caused more than 200 deaths among Palestinians so far.
The top diplomats said the Arab request for a Security Council meeting to stop the aggression ordered by (hawkish) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would be issued under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which allows for decisions to be backed with force.
But Qorei said the application of Chapter Seven "requires an approval from the United States, which is giving the green light to Sharon to kill more Palestinians and destroy Palestinian institutions."
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