Nation & world briefing
Arab League formally opposes Iraq war
Christine Spolar
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt —
Arab leaders on Saturday issued a
broad statement against possible war
in Iraq that avoided the most appar
ent split in their ranks — the fact
that thousands of U.S. forces are rap
idly deploying in the region.
The only leader who raised the is
sue of troops on Arab soil, specifical
ly in Saudi Arabia, was Libyan leader
Moammar Gadhafi. His jibe prompt
ly sparked an angry walkout by Sau
di Grown Prince Abdullah and the
entire Saudi delegation, according to
delegates among the 22-member
Arab League.
The Saudis were cajoled back into
the meeting 15 minutes later by
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
and Syrian leader Bashar Assad, ac
cording to witnesses at the summit
held in this Red Sea resort town.
Despite the blowup, the Arab lead
ers managed to pull together a unan
imous declaration calling for the
“complete rejection of any aggres
sion on Iraq.”
The rancor between Libya and .
Saudi Arabia, however, was only one
example of sharp divisions evident
Saturday within the often-fractious
Arab League. In a surprise show of
anxiety over the threat of war, the
United Arab Emirates floated a pro
posal to call for the ouster of Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein.
The Emirates’ proposal was the
first open attempt by an Arab coun
try to discuss Hussein’s possible ex
ile as a Way to thwart war.
But Airab League Secretary Gener
al Amr Moussa downplayed the plan,
saying it was never seriously consid
ered by the 22-member organiza
tion. The summit, despite the appar
ent rancor and differences,
produced a definitive statement “to
reaffirm the Arab attitude: We are
not supportive of war,” Moussa said.
The summit statement called on
Baghdad to abide by United Nations
demands to surrender weapons of
mass destruction and illegal missiles
and urged that U.N. weapons inspec
tors be given more time to search for
the banned weapons.
The statement also said Arab lead
ers agreed to form a committee to
consult with Iraq and to “explain the
Arab position” to the U.N. and mem
bers of the Security Council.
Some parts of the statement, how
ever, outlined the delicate predica
ment that some of the Arab coun
tries face in the runup to war.
The Arab League’s declaration
stressed that Arab nations should re
frain from carrying out any military
action against Iraq. The statement
did not, however, say Arab states
with U.S. forces on their soil should
demand that no attack be launched
from their territory.
Thousands of U.S. troops have
been based in Saudi Arabia since the
1991 Persian Gulf war, a source of
controversy in the conservative
kingdom. In the past few months,
tens of thousands of U.S. troops have
deployed in the region, largely
Kuwait and Qatar, ahead of a possi
ble war.
The summit’s unanimous declara
tion was undercut by the first out
spoken attempt by an Arab country
to challenge support for Hussein.
The United Arab Emirates float
ed a single-page proposal that de
manded Iraqi leaders, with the
promise of general amnesty, “sur
render power and leave the coun
try” in a matter of weeks. The Arab
League and the U.N. would then su
pervise the transition of political
power in Iraq, according to the
UAE concept.
Support for the proposal appeared
so slim, however, that Emirates rep
resentatives never presented it to
the Arab League, according to some
delegates. The proposal was circulat
ed publicly for the first time Satur
day among the hundreds of re
porters covering the summit.
© 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
U.S. weighs war options after Turkey’s denial
Sudarsan Raghavan
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
ANKARA, Turkey — As Washing
ton weighs whether to abandon its
war plans to use Turkish bases for
a crucial northern attack on Iraq,
Turkey’s embattled government on
Sunday appeared to reject a speedy
new vote to let U.S. troops enter
Turkish soil.
But it did not rule out trying to
reverse a parliamentary decision
that has seriously setback U.S.
plans for an Iraqi invasion and
threatens to fracture both
Turkey’s government and its rela
tionship with the United States.
“We will take this step if the
government decides it’s neces
sary,” Turkish leader Tayyip
Erdogan told reporters, a day
after Turkey’s parliament nar
rowly rejected a measure that
would have permitted thousands
of U.S. troops to use Turkey as a
launch pad for an assault. The
rejection stunned Washington.
The Parliament will meet on
Tuesday, but no vote is scheduled.
Some analysts and Turkish offi
cials say reconsideration by the po
litically fragile government could
take a week or longer. If this hap
pens, the Pentagon, frustrated by
weeks of delays and mixed signals
from Turkish leaders, could be
forced to revise its war plans and
leave Turkey out of its equation,
Western diplomats said.
Already, Washington is mulling a
series of backup plans, including
sending its troops and U.S. supply
ships floating near Turkey’s coast
to Kuwait.
Eyup Fatsa, the deputy head of
the ruling Justice and Development
Party’s parliamentary group sig
naled on Sunday that the United
States might be in for a long wait.
At least three members of Turkey’s
cabinet have publicly said they are
against trying again to get permis
sion for the U.S. deployment.
“The proposal has been delayed
to an open-ended time,” he told re
porters, following a party meeting
to discuss whether to seek approval
again. “There is no proposal for the
foreseeable future.”
But after his remarks, party mem
bers returned behind closed doors
to continue debating the matter.
Turkey has a lot to lose by turn*
ing its back on its principal bene
factor. It could be deprived of
Washington’s crucial backing for fi
nancial aid and European Union
membership. This includes a $15
billion aid package to cushion its
economy from war-related shocks.
Turkey also stands to lose influ
ence over the shape of a post-Sad
dam Hussein Iraq and will have less
power to stop the creation of an in
dependent Kurdish nation that em
braces parts of Turkey’s own restive
Kurdish minority.
“What you’re seeing is a true po
litical crisis for the ruling party, a
true political crisis for the Turkish
establishment, and a true political
crisis for Turkish-American rela
tions,” said Soli Ozel, a political an
alyst at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.
Though the stakes are high,
many of Turkey’s influential com
mentators do not expect the Jus
tice Party to resubmit a resolution
to host U.S. troops before March 9
— if it decides to proceed with
seeking another approval.
If U.S. troops are relocated to
Kuwait, it would likely take an ex
tra week to sail through the Suez
Canal, around the Arabian Penin
sula and then into the Persian Gulf.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Peter Smolowitz
in Qatar and Drew Brown Kuwait City
also contributed to this report
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