- President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt sounded a loud
cautionary
note yesterday, telling America that precipitate military action could
alienate the Arab world and spill innocent blood.
-
- He also made it clear that he will be spearheading
efforts
to gain concessions from Washington on the Palestinian question.
-
- Mr Mubarak's advisers said he feared that hasty US
military
action in Afghanistan would split the Arab world in half between
"those
who support Washington and those who are against".
-
- Jordan, another moderate in the region, is equally
fearful
that strikes against Iraq could produce a furious local reaction which
would make it extremely difficult for the country to sign up to a coalition
with Washington.
-
- Mr Mubarak, while warning against fast action in
Afghanistan,
is voicing pan-Arab demands for far more US involvement in solving the
Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
-
- That demand appeared to have been satisfied last night
when Israel bowed to American demands and suspended all "offensive
operations".
-
- In several interviews with US television networks before
the Israeli announcement, Mr Mubarak said that in targeting an
"individual,"
or Osama bin Laden, "you are going to kill innocent
people".
-
- Analysts said the president was manoeuvring to help his
Palestinian neighbours and also appease Islamic groups in his country.
Some of his views were similar to those of banned fundamentalist groups
in Egypt.
-
- After several years away from the international
limelight,
engaged in a brutal struggle against Islamic fundamentalists at home, the
Egyptian president appears to have seized on the current international
crisis to launch a political comeback.
-
- Western officials said that Mr Mubarak has "one
ear cocked towards Washington and another towards the concerns of the
country's
Islamists".
-
- They are concerned that his blunt suggestions that the
attacks on the US were a likely result of Washington's aloof stance in
the Middle East crisis, will be greeted with glee by Islamic
fundamentalists
in the region and elsewhere.
-
- The Egyptian government's view of the current crisis
and that of its Islamist adversaries has been close in recent days.
-
- Mamoun al-Hodhaibi, a senior official in Egypt's banned
Muslim Brotherhood, said: "Mubarak is saying what we believe. Hasty
action from Washington may divide the governments of the Muslim
world.
-
- "The Americans must search, instead, for the reasons
why this happened including what is going on in Palestine with Muslims
being killed every day by American [manufactured] aircraft."
-
- Last night's Israeli announcement of a halt in all
attacks
on Palestinian targets may help to take the steam out of such
accusations.
-
- In Jordan, Western officials say there is little sympathy
for the Taliban and an American attack on Afghanistan is unlikely to
generate
antagonism. An assault on Iraq could, however, create huge problems for
the kingdom.
-
- Fraternal and economic ties are strong with Iraq
providing
all Jordan's oil at highly favourable rates. During the Gulf war the late
King Hussein was forced to be Iraq's only supporter in the region out of
deference to strong pro-Baghdad feeling on the streets.
-
- His son King Abdullah has condemned last week's attacks
and offered support to Washington. Jordan's intelligence service is
expected
to provide valuable help to America.
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- http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/19/wtal219
.xmlù
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