CYPRUS: The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, has warned Washington that it will not be able to impose US military rule on Iraq after a war.
"Anyone who thinks he can control Iraq is deluding himself," Prince Saud asserted. "Iraq is a people, a country, a civilization, a history, and its people will not tolerate any external control," he said.
Speaking before a foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to prepare for the March 1st Arab summit, the prince also warned: "Unilateral action would not be advisable. It would not be in the interest of Iraq, the region or the United States. Thankfully, we have seen the United States agreeing to allow the United Nations to tackle the issue."
He expressed reservations about Franco-German proposals to expand UN arms inspections in Iraq and tighten sanctions on Iraq.
"Proposals to increase monitors and dispatch international forces to Iraq ... do not solve the problem and would perpetuate the state of tension," he said. "The region needs a quick settlement based on Iraq's compliance with the UN inspectors' demands and ruling out a military solution."
Meanwhile, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Mr Marwan Moasher, stressed that democracy in the Middle East had to come from "within". "We have always defended the view that democracy in this region must come from within," Mr Moasher said in reaction to President Bush's speech asserting that getting rid of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be good for democracy throughout the Middle East.
"We have made important progress in this field and we will continue to do so. It is very important for political openness and democracy to come from within," he said at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where tomorrow's Arab summit will take place.
In Amman, Jordanian Prime Minister Mr Ali Abu Ragheb made similar comments during a press conference in which he announced that Jordan's next parliamentary elections would be held on June 17th.
"As far as we know the stepping down of the Iraqi president is not on the agenda of the Arab summit," he said.
"This is an internal Iraqi issue and we do not intervene in such domestic issues," Mr Abu Ragheb said.
