Arab ministers reject Powell's proposal on Saddam to quit

The Arab foreign ministers yesterday rejected proposals by the US secretary of state Colin Powell on that their leaders urge the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to resign.

To this effect the Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri said it would be better that the US president George Bush resigns from his post because he is a " Tyrant and an oppressor" of the world and this would help avoid war.

The Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Maher said that "this is a meeting for the Arab League and the matter is left for the Arab leaders to take a decision concerning what they want to say and the decision they want to reach."

On Thursday, Powell said he will encourage the Arab leaders to issue a strong statement in their today's summit ( Saturday) demanding in it Iraq to abide by the demands of the UN to dismantle weapons or propose to the Iraqi President to live in exile in order to avoid war against Iraq .

Powell said he had conveyed this message to the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa, who denied on Friday that Powell had asked him to convey to the Arab leaders a message calling on them demanding the Iraqi president to quit the regime.

On the other hand, Bahrain's foreign minister Muhammad Bin Mubarak al-Khalifa said that the question of the Iraqi president quitting of the authority is not on the agenda of the summit. He stressed rejection to interfere in the internal affairs of countries.

The assistant secretary general of the Arab League Sayed Kamal said that Powell's statements is "an unprecedented event in the international relations and flagrant violation of the UN charter and regional organizations as well as a settled principle at the Arab League charter which is not to interfere in the internal affairs of the member states." He said "this is a matter which is only decided by Iraq, alone."