Egypt Warns Against Attack on Iraq

August 27, 2002
By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

Iraq launched a diplomatic offensive Tuesday to garner support against any U.S. attack, while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak — a top U.S. ally — came out strongly against any American military action, saying it would throw the Middle East into chaos.

Iraq sent top officials to Syria and China, as some Arab governments pressed Baghdad to accept the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. Iraq's vice president dismissed the issue, saying President Bush plans to attack whether or not inspections resume.

The comments came a day after Vice President Cheney made the toughest comments yet by the Bush administration to build a case for action to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Cheney called arguments against a strike on Iraq were "deeply flawed."

The Egyptian president, however, warned that a U.S. attack would enflame the Arab public, especially at a time when violence rages between Israel and the Palestinians. Many Arabs accuse the United States of bias toward Israel in the conflict.

Mubarak, in Egypt, said he told Washington that "if you strike at the Iraqi people because of one or two individuals and leave the Palestinian issue (unsolved), not a single (Arab) ruler will be able to curb the (rising of) popular sentiments."

"We fear a state of disorder and chaos may prevail in the region," Mubarak said in an address to university students in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, aired on state-run television.

He said Israel's military campaign against the Palestinians "is completely futile and the killing and the destruction might continue for another 50 years."

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, meanwhile, held talks in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who rejected threats against Iraq, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

"Iraq is indifferent to current threats," Ramadan told reporters after the talks.

Ramadan said Bush intends to attack Iraq regardless of the inspections issue. The U.N. inspectors "were the reason behind four U.S. aggressions on our country since 1991. So why should their presence in Iraq now prevent new U.S. attacks?" he said in comments published Tuesday in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Rafidain.

Also Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was in China, a traditional friend of Iraq and one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Beijing has repeatedly urged Iraq to allow arms inspectors to return.

Arab diplomats in Cairo said Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was also expected to head abroad as part of a new Iraqi diplomatic campaign to drum up support.

Iraq succeeded Tuesday in getting the U.S. threats put onto the agenda of a Sept. 4-5 meeting of Arab League foreign ministers.

The agenda was the subject of fierce debate Tuesday at the Arab League, with many members pressing for the meeting to urge Iraq to accept a resumption of inspections. Baghdad instead sought a firm Arab statement of support against Washington. Finally, the league agreed to discuss threats against "some Arab countries, especially Iraq."

The Qatari foreign minister, leaving Baghdad on Tuesday, said his two days of talks with Saddam and other Iraqi officials has showed that "Iraq wants to cooperate with the United Nations, yet it has some suspicions that can be solved ... through frank dialogue."

The minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, said Monday that Qatar wanted Iraq to accept the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.

Bush has warned Iraq of unspecified consequences if the U.N. inspectors — barred from Iraq since 1998 — are not readmitted.

U.S. administration officials stress no decision has been made to invade Iraq, but they have been stepping up talk about why an attack is needed.

After three rounds of recent talks, the United Nations has failed to persuade Iraq to readmit the weapons inspectors. Iraq said it wants to continue a dialogue with the world body on their return — but with conditions U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has rejected.
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