1 - 7 March 2001
Issue No.523
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 March 2001 Issue No.523 |
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Missiles first
THE 90-MINUTE talks between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, at a Cairo hotel on Saturday only briefly touched upon issues of concern to the host country: Israeli violence against Palestinians and the situation in Iraq, writes Khaled Dawoud. Instead, the talks, which US officials said were held upon Russia's request, concentrated on the controversial US plan to develop a national missile shield. The plan is opposed by Russia, China and a number of US allies in Europe.
Powell, in his first high-level meeting with a Russian official since taking office in January, expressed satisfaction with a document Russian officials handed to NATO's Secretary-General Lord Robertson in Moscow last week, suggesting an alternative non-strategic missile defence system that would also offer protection for potential US targets.
Powell said that the Russian plan needed more discussion, but he considered it a positive step that Moscow now agreed that long-range missiles from potential enemies -- namely North Korea, Iran and Iraq -- posed a threat to US security. Many experts think the national missile shield, strongly backed by President George W Bush's administration, is very costly considering the extent of the potential threat. They doubt that the countries usually referred to by Washington as a possible threat would ever develop the capabilities to seriously threaten US security.
A US State Department official told reporters in a briefing that Powell and Ivanov agreed that arms control experts from both countries should meet soon to discuss missile defence plans. Powell also raised what the official described as US concerns regarding the situation in Chechnya and press freedom in Russia. Yet, the two officials did not discuss the case of the top FBI agent arrested nearly two weeks ago and accused of spying for Russia, the official added.
Ivanov, in a joint news conference after the talks with Powell, called the meeting "a very frank, constructive dialogue." Asked whether he and Powell managed to resolve their differences concerning the US missile defence plan and Iraq, Ivanov responded, "If you think that we managed to resolve all our differences after our first meeting, this certainly would be good but this exceeds our expectations," he said.
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