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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Stalled action
AS ARAB foreign ministers opened a two-day conference in Cairo yesterday, there was little hope, if any, that they could take positive action on the Iraq crisis, report Dina Ezzat and Rasha Saad. The standoff imposed itself on the agenda of the Arab League ordinary session, with sources putting the blame for the continued stalemate on the Baghdad government.
The sources said Baghdad has submitted a memorandum to the conference, demanding condemnation of the American-British airstrikes in the no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq. The memorandum also raised the issue of Arabs, including Iraqis, Kuwaitis and Saudi Arabians, allegedly missing in action during the 1990-1991 Second Gulf war.
According to Arab League officials, the conference may acquiesce to the first Iraqi demand, but is almost certain to refuse to include the second on its agenda.
Kuwaiti and Saudi officials accused Iraq of using the issue of those "missing in action" to avoid the key problem of the "prisoners of war" captured by Iraq during its invasion of Kuwait.
Iraq also refuses to cooperate with a "contact group" established in January by the League to act in cooperation with the UN Security Council for the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Baghdad after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Said Al-Sahhaf had stormed out of the January meeting in protest. "To be perfectly honest, I would not be too surprised if Al-Sahhaf decided to put on another scene," a diplomat said.
In a bid to preserve the fragile Arab consensus on Iraq, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and his Syrian opposite number Farouk Al-Sharaa met on the eve of yesterday's conference. The two later said that any progress towards a resolution of the Iraq crisis was conditional on a positive Iraqi attitude, at least towards the contact group. This group failed to meet in Damascus late last month, mainly due to Iraq's refusal to cooperate because of its exclusion from the team.
Asked whether the group was likely to convene on the fringe of the Arab foreign ministers' conference, Moussa said, "There will be consultations on this issue."
Al-Sharaa said: "The important thing is that the contact committee proceeds with its consultations, so that it can achieve its main task of lifting the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq. We are going to invest our time and effort during this meeting to achieve this purpose, irrespective of the support, or lack of support, from countries who are not members of this committee."
Foreign Ministry sources said Moussa and Sahhaf were expected to meet on Friday.
