UNITED NATIONS: ARAB LEAGUE LEADER AMR MOUSSA MEETS UN SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN FOR TALKS ON WAR IN IRAQ AND PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL/ PALESTINE

Record ID: 645912

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: ARAB LEAGUE LEADER AMR MOUSSA MEETS UN SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN FOR TALKS ON WAR IN IRAQ AND PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL/ PALESTINE
  • Date: 10th April 2003
  • Summary: (W7) UNITED NATIONS (RECENT) (AGENCY POOL) MV CAMERAMAN
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: UNITED NATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HT6T95PEK30OQYDT79H82CYN
  • Story Text: The leader of the Arab League has met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and discussed the situation in Iraq, stressing the importance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to long-term stability in the Middle East.
    A top Arab leader advised the United States on Thursday (April 10, 2003) to shift its focus after the war on Iraq to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands rather than to additional "regime changes."
    "We had a very constructive meeting discussing the international situation, the regional situation, and the situation in Iraq. The issue of the Geneva Convention was raised during the meeting and its applicability in building the leading status now in Iraq around the relevant provisions of international law," said Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League.
    Moussa, not mentioning the United States (U.S.) by name, told reporters he had just come from a meeting with United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Kofi Annan where the two men had talked about the domino theory and about the next steps to be taken after invading Iraq.
    The domino theory being espoused by some U.S. officials holds that bringing democracy to Iraq could promote the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East where that form of government is currently rare.
    Moussa also stressed the importance of, "applying the Geneva agreement and protecting civilians under that agreement."
    Moussa added that the Iraqi nation needed to be protected.
    He said, "It is clear in this agreement that it is not the foreign forces right to establish government or to represent countries. The importance for us to protect the Iraqi nation."
    Emboldened by the U.S. military's rapid advances in Iraq, some American conservatives are now actively promoting the idea of "regime change" advocated by U.S. President George W. Bush in Iraq, to Iran and Syria.
    Bush has grouped Iran with Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" bent on weapons of mass destruction, and U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Syria in recent days of helping Saddam Hussein's government in the war.
    U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has described what he saw as Syrian support for Saddam as a "hostile act."
    And while not mentioning Syria or Iran by name, Vice President Dick Cheney said in a recent speech that the United States must "do whatever it takes" to defeat terrorism and confront nations that sponsor it.
    While no one is explicitly advocating force against Syria or Iran, conservatives inside and out of the U.S. government hope the Iraq war will serve as a warning to Damascus and Tehran against totalitarianism and mass destruction weapons.
    Moussa warned that trying to apply the domino theory in the Middle East "would be adding fuel to fire" after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
    Moussa said he hoped for the publication as soon as possible of the "road map" leading to a Palestinian state by 2005 that has been drafted by the Quartet of Middle East mediators, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
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