Urgent Arab moves needed

Arab League Secretary General, Amr Moussa, recently visited Iraq in an attempt to resolve the current state of affairs between Iraq and the Arab world and to open a new page in inter-Arab ties.

Towards this end, Baghdad said it is prepared to host Kuwaiti officials to discuss the issue of prisoners and people missing since the Gulf War. During the visit, the issue of UN weapons inspectors was also discussed, particularly after the U.S. warned Saddam Hussain this week that it will deal with him at the appropriate time unless UN weapons inspectors were allowed back. The following is a review of the discussion in the Arab Press of this visit and its implication.


Al Khaleej (UAE), in its editorial comment, says that the visit of Amr Moussa to Baghdad renews hopes of restructuring "the Arab house" after the second Gulf war that divided this region.

Such disunity has increased the challenges and risks for the Arab nations and resulted in a defective security system which Israel and the U.S. have taken advantage of. This, in turn, has limited the role that this region can play to realise a strategic triumph over the Zionists, adds Al Khaleej.

The visit, believes Al Khaleej, renews hopes of unity if certain conditions are fulfilled:

– Prioritising the supreme Arab interests, taking into consideration that any dispute can be solved through joint Arab work under the Arab League auspices and that no conflict should be solved by force.

– Admitting that the August 2,1990, aggression was a mistake that shook inter-Arab relations and Arab unity. Accordingly, a new page should be opened on the basis of good neighbourliness, not interfering in each other's internal affairs, and respect for Arab and international charters.

– Recognising that any act that threatens an Arab country also threatens other Arab countries. A different understanding of recent international developments has now emerged. This has led to Arabs recognising that certain measures are being prepared against Iraq. Hence, this requires a unified Arab stand to counter any such threat, says Al Khaleej.

In essence, new logical language is necessary as it opens doors for dialogue, increases confidence, and builds a new future for good relations. The visit of Amr Moussa is a unique occasion that all parties concerned should seize to start a new phase in Arab relations and joint Arab work against threats and challenges, adds Al Khaleej.

The visit of Amr Moussa should have occurred a long time ago, particularly since the role of the Arab League is to solve Arab problems, writes Abdullah Bishara in Al Seyassah (Kuwait).

Arab League sources said that Amr Moussa would meet the Iraqi leadership and discuss with him the current situation in light of the GCC summit in Oman and its call to lift the sanctions imposed against Iraq, as well as the Arab League resolution 5090 that delegated the secretary general to finalise the issue of Kuwaiti prisoners of war and missing people, says Bishara.

The discussions will also consider the Arab League resolution 5837 that relates to setting up a mechanism in light of the UN Security Council resolutions and Geneva agreements for solving the humanitarian problems between Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by coordinating and consulting with parties concerned in order to support the commission from the International Red Cross in solving the pending problems, adds Bishara.

Moussa has taken this initiative at the same time as the Iraqi Foreign Minister headed for Bahrain in an attempt to solve the pending conflicts and restore inter-Arab ties since the priority now is building Arab solidarity to stabilise the region. Hence, the visit of Moussa is historic and if it does not bear fruit, history will blame him and Iraq as they did not take advantage of this opportunity, says Bishara.

The Secretary General should tell Saddam Hussain that the world wants him to comply with the international resolutions and the return of weapons inspectors, and that this is the only way to lift the sanctions.

Also, he should explain to Saddam the actual Arab stand – that all Arabs do not want to increase the sufferings of the Iraqi nation but that they will not aid Iraq if it persists with its defiant stand and if it is targeted because of its policies, adds Bishara.

No one, particularly in the Gulf, will accept the Iraqi initiative to revive stagnant Arab relations and revitalise solidarity, as this is a means of building Arab and regional allies that support the Iraqi initiative and imply unconditional acceptance of the Iraqi stance, adds Bishara.

Moreover, it would have been better if Moussa had taken with him political experts and analysts to discuss the international and regional situation in order to present the real facts to Saddam Hussain. Moussa should not have limited the discussions to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti conflict but included the broader view of the conflict – that between the Security Council and Iraq, adds Bishara.

Along the same lines Dawood Al Sharian writes in Al Hayat (based in UK) that the Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Al Sabah, said that it is not possible to talk about a dialogue with Iraq before solving the issue of the Kuwaiti prisoners of war.

Also, the member of the Kuwaiti parliament, Nasser Al Sane'e, believes that no one in Kuwait is concerned with what the Arab media is saying about an Iraqi-Gulf reconciliation as their first concern is knowing the fate of the prisoners of war.

Kuwaitis have the right to oppose the "Iraqi flexibility" that some of the Arab media is promoting in spite of the unknown fate of 604 prisoners of war. Al Sharian points out that Western countries sever relations with other countries and threaten war if one of their citizens is kidnapped or even dies in an accident. So, how much more reason is there for Kuwaiti concern when the missing comprise one per cent of the total inhabitants.

Thus, the hostage issue is a national issue and asking Kuwaitis to forget it is like legitimising a terrible crime and agreeing to exclude the most important issue from the negotiations between Kuwait and Iraq, adds Al Sharian.

Iraq's recent admission that there are Kuwaiti prisoners of war after 10 years of continuous denial means that Iraq has been lying all this time and that the Iraqi government is ready to sacrifice these innocent people and its own nation to protect its reputation and to prove that its declarations were true.

So, defending Baghdad and attacking Kuwaitis because of their insistence on knowing the destiny of the prisoners of war is even more oppressive and unjust than the Iraqi stand and is a direct attack against Arab human rights, adds Al Sharian.

Moreover, the continuous demand of Iraq that Iran return Iraqi prisoners of war and at the same time its denial of the Kuwaitis' right to seek the return of theirs is proof of Iraqi arrogance. Also, the Arab media's support to Baghdad over this issue is as dangerous and disastrous as the occupation of Kuwait, says Al Sharian.

Fuad Zaidan writes in Akhbar Al Arab (UAE) that Moussa has revitalised the role of Secretary General with his dynamic acts, particularly his visit to Iraq and his attempts to reorder the "Arab house" and