SHARM
EL-SHEIKH, February 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Arab foreign ministers meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of
Sharm el-Sheikh agreed Friday, February 28, to forward a proposal to
Arab leaders, due to meet Saturday, on sending a three-member
committee to Baghdad, Washington and a number of European capitals.
According
to the proposal, the committee, which will group Egypt, Syria and
Saudi Arabia, will endeavor to garner support for giving U.N.
weapons inspectors more time to carry out their mission in Iraq.
Despite
a cloud of difference overshadowing their meeting, the Arab
ministers found another common ground ahead of Saturday’s summit
on the Iraqi crisis.
They
saw eye to eye on spurning U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s
proposals that the envisaged summit should openly call on Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein to step down.
On
Thursday, Powell said he would encourage the Arab leaders to
"issue the strongest possible statement to Saddam Hussein that
he must comply (with U.N. disarmament terms) ... or suggest to him
that perhaps to avoid what might flow in terms of serious
consequences, it might be in his best interests to step down."
In
response, Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said "the one who
should step down is the one endangering his own nation and the whole
world ... dictator Bush himself."
Egyptian
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said that "it's not up to the Arab
League to appoint Arab leaders," while his Bahraini counterpart
said "I don't think it's on the agenda."
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"It's
not up to the Arab League to appoint Arab leaders," said
Maher
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Kuwaiti
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Sabah renewed charges that Iraq
was threatening the emirate's security, but stopped short of calling
for the resignation of the man who ordered his army to invade Kuwait
12 years ago.
A
diplomat said Washington's allies do think nevertheless that
Saddam's resignation would suit everyone and preempt war, but
others, including Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia and Libya fear that it
would set a precedent allowing Washington to demand the resignation
of other Arab leaders in the future.
The
diplomat added that Saudi Arabia had attempted recently and
secretly, in coordination with Russia, to convince Saddam to quit in
exchange for guarantees for his safety and the safety of his
relatives, but without success.
Other
ministers and officials flatly rejected the U.S. demand, but
diplomats claimed it was the secret hope of Washington's Arab allies
including Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The
Arab ministers tasked a committee comprising eight of the 22 Arab
League members to draft a clause on Iraq to be included in the
summit's final statement.
Algeria,
Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Yemen are backing Iraq's demand for the
summit to urge Arab states to refrain from providing any assistance
to a U.S.-led invasion, and to issue a strong message to Washington
against the looming war.
Gulf
states hosting large numbers of U.S. troops want to avoid being
portrayed as auxiliaries of a looming attack, and have argued that
responsibility should be born by Iraq if it does not fully cooperate
with U.N. weapons inspectors.
The
Pentagon has said its military buildup is near complete, with
225,000 troops in the region, half of which are in Kuwait.
Qatar
is to serve as the U.S. command center should war break out, and
Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Meanwhile,
a source in the United Arab Emirates' delegation said it would
propose a solution of the Iraq crisis "within an Arab framework
and in coordination with the United Nations."
The
UAE delegation will, on behalf of President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan
al-Nahayan, "put forward an initiative to resolve the Iraq
issue in an Arab framework and in coordination with the United
Nations," a source in the UAE said, on condition of anonymity.
