- US vice-President Dick Cheney reportedly told Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the U.S. was planning to attack Iraq 'first
and foremost for Israel's sake.' According to Israeli sources quoted by
Israeli state-run radio Wednesday, Cheney asked Sharon to 'tone down'
the confrontation with the Palestinians so as not to disrupt or disturb
American plans vis-a-vis Iraq.
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- The sources quoted Cheney as saying that he expected
President Bush to decide to attack Iraq in spite of widespread opposition
in the Arab world. Sharon said publicly Tuesday that Israel would bless
whole- heartedly any American attack on Iraq, telling Cheney that the US
'can always count on us.'
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- Israeli press reported this week that Sharon was hoping
that a decisive American onslaught against Iraq would demoralize the Palestinians
and force them to concede defeat and put an end to the intifada.
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- However, Cheney and Sharon reportedly agreed to keep
coordination and cooperation on Iraq behind the curtain in order not to
embarrass pro-American puppet Arab regimes.
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- Cheney arrived in Ankara Tuesday on an 11-nation visit
to the Middle East and Britain that many have said was aimed at drumming
up support for a possible campaign to overthrow President Saddam. Turkish
leaders have repeatedly voiced opposition to any action against their southern
neighbor.
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- 'There is no question of any military action against
Iraq in the foreseeable future,' Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told
reporters after meeting with Cheney. Ankara, the Turkish capital, was
the last stop on Cheney's tour. Cheney said in occupied Jerusalem earlier
Tuesday that no decision had yet been made on whether to attack Iraq.
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- Turkish police tightened security in downtown Ankara
hours before Cheney's arrival and detained 80 people for lack of proper
identification, the Anatolia news agency reported. A few hundred people
from trade unions and small left-wing parties protested Cheney's visit,
shouting anti-US slogans.
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- Local reports said the Turkish leaders would tell Cheney
that Turkey would not contribute any troops to a possible US campaign against
Iraq. However, Turkey would discuss providing logistical support, such
as the use of its air bases, the reports said. Turkey, a close US and Israeli
ally, has strongly supported Washington's anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan.
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- Turkey was a staging point for US attacks during the
Gulf War and US planes are already based in Turkey's southern Incirlik
air base from which they patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. But Turkey
fears that a war in Iraq could further destabilise the region, devastate
its fragile economy, and lead to the creation of a separate Kurdish state
in northern Iraq that could in turn encourage similar ambitions among Turkey's
12 million Kurds.
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- Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani also arrived in Ankara
for talks Tuesday. Talabani was not expected to meet with Cheney, but in
a previous visit the Kurdish leader said he opposed US intervention in
Iraq.
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- Story Text Courtesy IAP News http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steveseymour/iraq/us_vice.htm
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