Albright very concerned about the situation in the Middle East

The Paris- based weekly al-Muharrir news said on Friday that the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told certain Arab capitals that severing relations between them and Israel might lead to a great war due to the sensitivity of the situation in the region.

The paper quoted an Arab ambassador in Paris as saying that " Albright was very tough while she was saying that her country will be not responsible for controlling the situation if developments take place if Arab capitals will miscalculate in evaluating their diplomatic relations with Israel."

The ambassador added that Albright which is known for her " tough" character seemed " scared " over the development of conditions in a way that would lead to the eruption of war in the Middle East and the consequences of such a war on the US interests in the region.

The paper added that military correspondents inside the pentagon said that measures were taken by the US army chief of staff to withstand possibilities that might result from these developments. Meantime, a high ranking US military official doubted repeated statements that Arafat controls the situation very well.