Analysts feared the fallout from the US economic meltdown, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed

Nuclear noise

High drama feuds prevail in art, crime, religion and politics

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The reopening of Arab embassies in Iraq and the world financial crisis preoccupied the pundits

It's time for the Arab world to step up to the plate, at least when it comes to a nuclear-free Middle East. The world is closely watching the outcome of the nuclear race in the region. The fact that Israel is the only nuclear power in the region, and that it has the unbridled blessing of America, is an unnatural state of affairs.

And while Arab commentators are in complete agreement about the injustice of the America policy of double standards, they disagree on how to deal with the problem of Israeli nuclear supremacy in the Middle East.

Arab and Muslim nations consider the danger of Israel's atomic arsenal as the main nuclear threat to the Middle East. Americans prefer to airbrush it out, and so do the Israelis. Indeed, Israel recently cheekily accused North Korea of supplying enriched uranium to six Middle Eastern countries. Arab countries, on the other hand, failed once again to identify Israel as the threat to peace and stability in the Middle East. Washington and its Western allies blocked efforts at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by Arab and Muslim nations to submit a resolution critical of Israel and linking it to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

Writing in the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Alyaa Al-Atassi reported from Vienna that the IAEA conference "was once again an Arab defeat at an international forum". The Arabs insisted that Israel's nuclear arsenal constituted a threat to the security of Arab states. "It must be noted that the Arab project is presented annually [to the IAEA], but had to be altered this year in three separate paragraphs in order to invite Israel to officially join the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty and a nuclear-free Middle East. However, Israel condemned the Arab move as designed to isolate it internationally. Tel Aviv, moreover, demanded that the clause regarding its nuclear capabilities be cancelled."

At a United Nations-sponsored conference on nuclear proliferation, Arab countries pressed for a nuclear-free Middle East. The international community, it was said, must not condone the thuggish actions of the Israelis. Israel must not be allowed to get away with hoarding weapons of mass destruction. The curious "shameful silence" of Western nations must be uncovered.

Writing in the daily pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat, Gaber Habib Gaber argued that "the Sahwa militia maintained security and peace for a meagre $30 million -- their salaries -- a matter which the American [occupation] forces failed to achieve as they were spending more than $6 billion monthly to maintain them." He added that "the Sahwa militias, in addition to other factors, brought about a [stable] situation that is a source of pride for the American administration."

Indeed, Arab disunity was cause for concern among the commentators. But even more intriguing as far as the commentators were concerned was the sudden obsession of Arab nations to resume diplomatic relations with Iraq. Arab governments, including heavyweights such as Egypt, are rushing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Baghdad.

Writing in Al-Hayat, Mustafa Zein argued that "the Egyptian absence [in Iraq] and the lack of a clear-cut unified Arab strategy in the region has given the opportunity to other regional powers to implement their plans and protect their interests. Iran, for example, dealt in a realistic way with the American invasion of Iraq... it offered weapons to its allied Iraqi groups to fight occupation forces and at the same time entered into negotiations with Washington to share influence in Iraq." He added that, "Iran also capitalised on the Arab absence in Palestine and Lebanon and other countries. It used its growing influence in these countries to negotiate a regional security system in the region with the US."

Sectarian schisms, too, preoccupied the pundits. Commenting on the latest Sunni- Shia spat caused by a statement by the Sunni world's most celebrated Islamic scholar Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi and which aroused much debate and controversy, Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed argued in the London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat that El-Qaradawi has always been the main pillar of Sunni-Shia cooperation and vigorously defended El-Qaradawi's statements. "Surprisingly, after all these years of [working on Sunni-Shia cooperation] he changed his attitude and announced the necessity of fighting the Shia tide." Al-Rashed added that, "El-Qaradawi was right in his call as he discovered that the Iranian regime is trying to capitalise on this cooperation between the Shia and the Sunni worlds to preach the Shia doctrine in Sunni societies." He added that, "in fact, Iran uses intellectuals, men of religion, human rights organisations and the media sympathising with it in attacking the [Arab regimes]... and also used some of them in preaching the Shia doctrine that is closely linked to Ayatollah in Iran." He concluded that, "the [Sunni-Shia] problem is not a sectarian issue. Rather, sectarianism is being politically used on both sides."

Arab commentators were obsessed with the state of the world economy and its repercussions on the Arab world. Indeed, the global financial crisis continued to make headlines in most Arab newspapers. "Panic prevails in international stock markets and shares hit bottom lows, and the solution of the crisis is far- fetched", ran the front-page headline of Al-Hayat. "The euro depreciates, oil prices decline, and the Saudi Stock Exchange loses 10 per cent", ran another headline.

The front-page headline of Al-Hayat was equally ominous. "Fear stalks the globe. The resolution of the crisis is far off."