18 - 24 April 2002
Issue No.582
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 18 - 24 April 2002 Issue No.582 |
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Will they? Won't they?
A possible US attack against Iraq is being supported by the British, the Israelis, and almost no one else. Dina Ezzat talks to Iraq's foreign minister
Israeli newspapers reported that during talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell this week, Israeli officials encouraged Washington to act against Iraq. Their argument was that an attack was needed so the Middle East "could have peace."
Unlike other officials in the US administration, Powell is allegedly not terribly keen on an American military strike against Iraq. He is said to be of the view that such an attack greatly intensify anti-US sentiments in the Arab world. This, however, is not the only reason that Washington may find it difficult to go ahead with its plans against Iraq. The current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is yet another reason for the US to reconsider its scheme against Iraq.
"The Americans know from their best Arab allies that, irrespective what Israel says, the Middle East cannot have two wars going at the same time," commented one Arab diplomatic source.
Another thorn in the side of US plans against Iraq is the resumption of talks between Iraq and the UN.
A new session of dialogue between Iraq and the UN was scheduled to take place today, but it has been rescheduled for later in the month. "We are still committed to our dialogue with the UN. We are not cancelling the dialogue," a senior Iraqi official told Al-Ahram Weekly. The tentative new date for talks is 28 April. "We still have to work out the schedules on both sides; so it ought to be somewhere around then," the source said.
The same source explained that Iraq's request to delay this new round of talks was so that the UN's and the international community's attention would not be diverted from the Palestinian issue, in view of the current Israeli invasion. "The Palestinian issue is very important for Iraq. Actually, Iraq is the only country which imposed a one- month oil embargo to protest against the indifference of the international community to the massacres committed against the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupation army, with an implicit green light from the US."
If and when they take place, the talks between Iraq and the UN will be dominated by the return of international weapons inspectors to Iraq. The issue was deeply probed during the first round of talks between UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Nagi Sabri Al- Hadithi, which took place in New York on 7 and 8 March.
Informed Iraqi sources told the Weekly that the Iraqi administration is not ruling out the possibility that dialogue with the UN could eventually lead to the return of international arms inspectors to Iraq -- perhaps as early as this summer.
The return of the inspectors, the source explained, should be for a specified period of time to be agreed upon by both Baghdad and the UN. The new mission of weapons inspectors in Iraq should handle specific issues related to Iraq's disarmament according to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Iraq and the UN have yet to officially agree on these issues, however.
According to its foreign minister, Iraq is not opposed to "the idea of the return of inspectors. After all, we discussed this matter when I met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his office in New York. Mr Hans Blix, the chief of the inspection mission that the UN wants to send to us, was present at that meeting," Al-Hadithi told the Weekly.
He added, however, that the renewed inspection mission is "not going to start from scratch. "We believe that over 99 per cent of the mission of the arms inspectors has already been accomplished, so any inspectors that would come back to Iraq need to deal with matters that have not yet been fully covered by the missions undertaken by groups of international inspectors that had previously operated in Iraq," Al-Hadithi said.
Moreover, Baghdad is insisting that the return of the inspectors should be part of a comprehensive deal to be reached with the UN on a number of other issues of concern to both sides.
"The return of the inspectors is supposed to be a part of an overall package deal that should also secure a positive response to Iraq's legitimate rights according to relevant UN resolutions, including UN Security Council resolution 687, which detailed the nature of the sanctions imposed on Iraq and the rights that Iraq should be regaining as progress is made on the implementation of its international commitments," Al- Hadithi said.
From Iraq's perspective, these commitments include a partial lifting of sanctions imposed on it for its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, in accordance with the level of its compliance with the UN resolutions. "As I told you we have done almost everything we had to do and the gradual lifting of sanctions should have started already," he said.
Iraq's demands go further, however. Iraq also wants the UN "to show commitment" to an article in UN Security Council resolution 687 that stipulates the need to preserve Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. From the Iraqi point of view, the US- imposed no-fly zones in the south and north of Iraq are a violation of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial unity. The Iraq Liberation Law adopted by the US is also being considered a violation of these concepts. Iraq considers all US attempts to topple the current Iraqi regime by resorting to military force or by "plotting with overseas-based Iraqi dissidents" as a violation of the concepts of Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty as specified in UN Security Council Resolution 687.
"There are very many commitments that the UN has to honour. For us it is not just a matter of allowing the inspectors to go back," Al-Hadithi asserted.
Weapons inspectors have now been out of Iraq for around three years, after Iraqi accusations of inspectors' involvement in espionage and attempts to violate Iraq's sovereignty. Iraq's failure to allow inspectors back was recently described by US President George W Bush as wrong-doing, on the basis of which Iraq made itself open to US military strikes.
The resumption of dialogue between Iraq and the UN, which came after an initiative from Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, was designed to deny the US this pretext to attack Iraq.
In fact, it seems that neither Washington nor London are particularly keen on the resumption of talks between Iraq and the UN. Statements being issued by both capitals, even those issued after the 7 March meeting, indicated that the talks were bound to fail. They even spelt out a determination to take action against Iraq "irrespective of the outcome of its talks with the UN."
"I am determined to remove Saddam Hussein," US President George W Bush said last week.
For his part, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is arguing that the Iraqi regime should be toppled because even if it allows inspectors back it will not fully cooperate with them and will continue to "develop weapons of mass destruction."
Israel is the only other state which has spoken out in favour of the Anglo- American scheme against Iraq.
But Iraq's foreign minister shrugged off the danger, saying that such threats have been around for years. These threats, he said, are faced with obvious international and Arab opposition.
Indeed, earlier this week a group of 120 European political activists arrived in Baghdad to show solidarity with Iraq against the US threats. This symbolic move is representative of a new political mood at both the governmental and non-governmental levels in several European capitals.
Arab opposition to the US' declared intention to attack Iraq has also been made explicit. "All Arab capitals oppose any attack against any Arab country, including Iraq," Arab League Secretary General Moussa keeps affirming.
US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who toured several Arab capitals in March to promote the American scheme against Iraq, failed to secure any serious support for the US plans.
Moreover, during the Arab summit that took place in Beirut late in March, the door was opened for a rapprochement between Iraq and both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
In his speech to the Arab summit, Iraqi Vice-President Ezzat Ibrahim spoke in no uncertain terms about his country's respect for Kuwait's independence and sovereignty and of Iraq's sincere intentions to establish the best of neighbourly relations with the state of Kuwait.
Moreover, a compromise language in the summit's declaration on the state of relations between Iraq and Kuwait was agreed upon by both parties. A resolution adopted by the Beirut summit spoke of the respect and sovereignty of both countries and the opposition to the use of force against Iraq.
Obviously, the warm hand-shake between Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Iraqi Vice-President Ibrahim signalled the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Iraq and its neighbours.
"Iraq is committed to having the best of relations with all Arab countries. We are committed to good relations with our neighbours. There are no two ways about this," Al-Hadithi said.
According to Al-Hadithi, "Iraq is willing to work under the umbrella of the Arab League to tackle all sorts of issues that would encourage such a trend."
"We said this to the Arab League secretary-general when he visited us in Baghdad in January and we proved it with our cooperation with him in relation to the language of the Arab summit resolution on the state of relations between Iraq and Kuwait," he added.
So, what does the future hold? Iraq's foreign minister predicted it thus: "I am not going to talk about the American intentions. What I can talk about is Iraq's intentions. Iraq has the best of intentions to pursue a serious dialogue with the UN and to further improve its relations with its Arab brothers. We believe that these intentions are shared in many world capitals and Arab capitals."
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