Moussa: the Arab states won't dispatch troops to Iraq under US military command
Regional-USA, Politics, 12/30/2004

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Wednesday expressed his faith in having strong Arab-American relations.

The remark was made in his speech at the inaugural session of the annual conference of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

Moussa said that the US's agenda on the Middle East had five points including, the Greater Middle East, Reform in the Arab world, Palestine, Iraq and Sudan.

"A major sector of Arab public opinion is apprehensive about the US vision on the Middle East,"said Moussa.

Out of deep faith in having good relations with Washington, Moussa said that he had underlined time and again the dire need for the American "friend" to present himself in a favorable form (in the eye of the Arabs) and to modify his policy in a way that would serve the American-Arab joint interests and regional peace as well.

Moussa, in his speech at the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs annual meeting, warned that the current state of affairs of Arab-American relations did not serve both sides' interests. "The US should listen to the voices of the moderate in the region, otherwise it will have to deal with extremists of the region," said Moussa.

He underlined the need of having a strategic Arab-American dialogue run in an honest and transparent way with a view to reaching an agreement on measures to be carried out for the sake of enhancing Arab-American relations.

Moussa highlighted that both sides, the Arabs and America, should undertake some measures in the service of bilateral relations.

The Arabs should be fully aware that they should have a collective stance to be able to deal with the new conservative trend emerging in the US, said Moussa.

In order for the Arabs to change their image in the eye of the US, they should actually introduce real amendments and reforms, he said.

As for the US, it should start with stopping the full protection of the hostile Israeli practices that run counter to international and human laws, said Moussa.

The AL chief said the Arab-Israel conflict has seen marked progress only at times when the US played the fair mediator.

Moussa cited the Jordanian-Israeli peace talks and the beginning of the Syrian-Israeli peace talks as examples.

Moussa believed it was high time the US left the "station of the 9/11" and stop dealing with the region on that basis.

Moussa called for not ignoring the consequences of the military occupation and ensuing violence and instability in both Palestine and Iraq.

"Arab-American relations will only be boosted when both sides realize the necessity of promoting joint cooperation in a way ensuring reciprocal benefits," said Moussa.

Moussa said that the Arab states will not send troops to Iraq under the US military umbrella adding that this issue was discussed by the Arab states.

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