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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 April 2000 Issue No. 476 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 April 2000 Issue No. 476
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Summit Features Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 'Securing' the Middle East
By Sherine BahaaFive days into his two-week tour, observers have characterised US Defence Secretary William Cohen's call for "strong security cooperation" as being both politically and militarily oriented.
En route to the Middle East, Cohen first dropped in on Nigeria before making quick visits to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, earlier this week. The remainder of his itinerary covers Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
At the top of Cohen's tour agenda are plans for a US-Israeli financial and security package to compensate Israel for the withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which according to Cohen, was "essentially ready." He explained that the package "was envisioned for security compensation [and its delivery] was contingent upon having an agreement with Syria itself. So, it remains on hold until such time as we see whether or not the negotiations can be re-instituted."
Israel was reported to be seeking a $17 billion package that includes Tomahawk cruise missiles and AWACS planes.
Cohen's visit to Israel did clear up the question of whether the US would join international peace-keeping forces in south Lebanon. Both he and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak ruled this out.
A journalist (r) talks with a Kuwaiti army officer during joint excercises with US military forces code named Eager Mace, which were held in Kuwait last Saturday
(photo: AP)
While in Jordan Cohen tried to boost the Turkish-Israeli strategic alliance by calling on Jordan to join. "What we do hope is to see greater exercises between the US, Israel, Jordan and Turkey," Cohen said.
Jordan sent an observer to a search-and-rescue exercise in the Mediterranean last December involving US, Israeli and Turkish forces. The exercise was the outcome of a burgeoning security relationship between Israel and Turkey.
Cohen's effort to include Jordan in strategic cooperation between Turkey and Israel appears to be aimed at isolating Syria.
Apart from the declared objective of his tour -- national security and military cooperation -- Cohen informed Israeli officials of the US administration's displeasure with Israel's plan to sell China a $250 million reconnaissance system which enables aircraft to conduct long-range radar surveillance and coordination during battle.
Cohen explained that the United States is against the sale of this kind of technology to China for fear "of the potential of changing the strategic balance" in the Far East.
"With tensions running as high as they are in China and Taiwan, we see this as being counterproductive," Cohen continued.
However, such arguments seemed to carry little weight with Israeli officials who insisted that their deal with China is still on.
