Iraqi delegation withdraws from meeting of Arab foreign ministers after heated consultations
Iraq, Politics, 1/25/1999

After three closed sessions that took more than 10 hours of hot arguments and discussions the Iraqi delegation withdrew the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf from the meeting of the Arab foreign ministers at Arab League headquarters in Cairo at the beginning of the third and final session.

Al-Sahaf described the concluding statement of the meeting as "unbalanced" and said the phrases supporting Iraq are of no value at all, saying that it did not condemn the US - British attack on Iraq and that it failed to achieve the "lowest minimum of reasonability."

MAP reported that the final statement that was adopted expressed "concern and worry" over the military option against Iraq and its consequences on the life of innocent people and called for the enforcement of the security council decisions.

Al-Sahaf asserted the existence of obvious US pressure on some countries so that the meeting would be of no use. On the contrary, he said, it has become a negative to Iraq.

In a press conference held yesterday evening at the headquarters of the Nile Hilton Hotel, al-Sahaf said, "Iraq cannot accept this and this is not the aim of the meeting." He said it is a kind of conspiracy and gives the United States a cover for its repeated attacks on Iraq.

He said the statement claims that Iraq provokes its neighbors.

Al-Sahaf also stated that the discussion inside the meeting lasted for many hours because there were pledges from some countries that they will work on conveying the Iraqi viewpoint. These pledges did not last before the "concrete wall" created by some countries, especially Saudi Arabia, he said.

Previous Stories:
  Arab FMs meeting will not call for lifting sanctions off Iraq   (1/23/1999)
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  Iraqi buildup on border with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait   (1/23/1999)
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