3 - 9 January 2002
Issue No.567
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 3 - 9 January 2002 Issue No.567 |
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Fenced in
Fforeign Minister Ahmed Maher denied reports yesterday that the United States has been pressing European countries not to extend invitations to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as a way of pressuring him to take serious measures against armed militant Palestinian groups.
In a news conference assessing political developments in 2001, Maher said that the problem facing Arafat was not a paucity of invitations to visit other countries, but the "intransigence" of the Israeli leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "decision to prevent him from leaving Ramallah."
Maher maintained that the United States is not seeking to sever its ties with Arafat. He described Sharon's measures against Arafat as "unprecedented," adding that the Israeli premier was "standing against the whole world." The question, Maher said, "is how long he [Sharon] will be able to continue maintaining this stubborn stance."
While admitting that 2001 saw some regrettable events, including the escalating violence in the occupied territories, Maher praised the cohesion with which Arab nations have worked to keep the US's so-called war against terrorism focused and contained, Maher added that Arab efforts have also succeeded in toning down a strong campaign initiated by "certain circles to defame Islam and Muslims."
Aftermath
An advance team, comprised of the 11 nations from which Afghanistan's international peace- keeping force is to be drawn, arrived yesterday in Kabul in order to assess logisitics for the full- scale arrival of foreign troops later this month.
The advance team will join British forces that are already deployed there to maintain security. Col. Richard Barrens, the British chief-of-staff at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, said the 25-person team includes representatives from Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
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