Arab Countries

The gulf state of Qatar restored diplomatic relations with Egypt on Wednesday, joining eight other Arab countries in ending the isolation imposed after the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty of 1979. Arab countries began resuming relations with Cairo after an Arab League summit last week in Jordan, which left the decision to individual governments. The 21-member league suspended Egypt's membership in 1979.

  A high-powered gathering of Arab and Western diplomats pressed Russia and other allies of Syria to support U.N. Security Council action aimed at ushering Syrian President Bashar Assad from power to end a bloody crackdown on opposition supporters. At a Security Council session Tuesday, diplomats from the Arab League, the United States and Europe argued that those who continue to support the Syrian regime are allowing what started as a peaceful "Arab Spring" protest movement 10 months ago to spiral into full-blown civil war. They pushed the council to approve an Arab League-sponsored resolution calling for Assad to cede power as part of a transition to democracy.

The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, denounced Arab countries working for political reconciliation in Iraq as U.S. agents, according to a recording posted online Sunday. "The countries that met in Cairo ... were involved in destroying Iraq and cooperated with America by opening their land, airspace and waters and offering intelligence to it," said the speaker, who officials said sounded like Zarqawi.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's condemnation of fellow Arab leaders exposes the power struggle running through a region where he, and his father before him, helped lead the cause of Arab nationalism. In his first address to his country since June, a defiant Assad vowed to crush a 10-month-old popular revolt against him. But he also raged at what he regards as the Arab League's betrayal of Damascus, singling out the Persian Gulf nations that have risen in stature as traditional powers Syria and Egypt have faded.

President Bush has informed Congress that he may authorize the sale of 315 front-line Abrams tanks to Saudi Arabia and 200 to Kuwait while providing a third Arab country, the United Arab Emirates, with 40 F-18 fighter jets, sources said today. Egypt, meanwhile, would get 150 Hawk missiles and Israel 200 shoulder-fired Stingers, while Jordan again would receive no American weapons this year, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Bush administration, fearing that it might lose the public relations war in Muslim and Arab nations to Osama bin Laden, is turning to Madison Avenue for help. The State Department is talking to the Advertising Council, a New York-based nonprofit group that develops advertising strategies for national causes, about crafting a "public diplomacy" campaign on the military action in Afghanistan and the war on terrorism.

Americans are short-sighted and naive to boast that Iraq is not going to be another Vietnam. Militarily, of course, they are right. Although the war is likely to last for months, there is little doubt that Iraq ultimately will be defeated. Politically, however, the war with Iraq will be the granddaddy of all Vietnams. When the shooting stops, it won't be George Bush's coalition--that posse of desperadoes and bounty hunters--that will determine the political trends of the region.

Zamzam Cola has new customers in the Persian Gulf and plans to expand soon into more Arab markets. The Iranian company can indirectly thank Israel for its growth. Zamzam, which previously exported only to Iraq and Afghanistan, is benefiting from a grass-roots campaign by Arabs and other Muslims to boycott American goods over U.S. backing for Israel. Set off by the latest Palestinian uprising, the boycott is especially directed at well-known American products such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's.

Something unexpected broke out at last week's relaunch of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians: a glimmer of what looked almost like optimism. After two years of estrangement and truculence, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas put on their best behavior, said all the right things about seizing the opportunity and even huddled chummily together like old friends, which they are not. Of course, we have seen this opening ceremony before.

Hours after riots forced Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali to flee his country, hundreds of Egyptians poured into the streets of Cairo with a warning to their own authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak. "Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!" they chanted late Friday night. "We are next. Listen to the Tunisians; it's your turn, Egyptians!" The slogans were a burst of envy and elation in a country where people have protested for years but have never ignited a mass movement to threaten Mubarak's nearly 30-year-old police state.

Syrian forces targeting areas that are in open revolt against the government launched a major assault on an agricultural hub near the Iraqi border Sunday, even as neighbors in the Middle East unleashed withering criticism of the crackdown. Saudi Arabia joined other Arab countries in condemning the violence. In a statement read on television, King Abdullah said that the bloodshed was unacceptable and that his country was withdrawing its ambassador to Damascus. Saudi Arabia followed the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which represents oil-rich monarchies on the Arabian Peninsula.

Syrian protesters answered President Bashar Assad's bid to crush a popular uprising by military force with defiance Friday, braving gunfire and tanks to turn out by the tens of thousands around the capital and across the country. It was the first major day of demonstrations since an offensive in the city of Hama began six days earlier. They signaled the failure so far of Assad's use of the military to try to regain full control of his country. At least 24 people were killed, 13 of them in Damascus, the capital, and its outskirts, according to the Local Coordination Committee in Syria, a coalition of opposition groups.

Col. Moammar Kadafi's portraits hang from the walls of the middle school. All of the walls. He's on horseback. He's in uniform. He's a young army commander. He's a fatherly leader of the nation. His words, spelled out in the collection of occasionally incoherent aphorisms called the Green Book, are woven into weekly lessons. His praises are sung by the students, who chant pro-government slogans for the benefit of a group of visiting journalists, as well as the teachers overseeing the classrooms at Zahra Fatah middle school in central Tripoli.

Yemen's president has apologized to Washington for any misunderstanding caused by his comments that blamed the United States and Israel for destabilizing Arab rulers, the White House announced on Wednesday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh also said he remains committed to political reform in Yemen, the White House said after the Wednesday telephone call from Saleh to John Brennan, deputy national security advisor for homeland security and counter-terrorism. In a Tuesday speech at Sana University in Yemen, Saleh criticized the United States and Israel for helping anti-government protesters in several Arab countries.

Bring them home Re " 'A danger you can feel,' " Jan. 23 One look at those young Marines who have lost lives and limbs in Afghanistan, and my anger has no bounds. What are we doing there that is worth their sacrifice? If it is for the sake of the oil barons, our military's dangerous "we refuse to lose" pride or the need for yet more bases to surround a long- ago crippled Cold War adversary, none is worth the limbs or lives of our youngsters. If the Iraqis and Afghans (Taliban or otherwise)

The uprising in Tunisia and the toppling of President Zine al Abidine ben Ali dominated the annual Arab Economic Summit, which opened Wednesday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik amid fears that unrest could ripple across the Middle East. "It is on everyone's mind that the Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession," warned Amr Moussa, chief of the Arab League. "The Tunisian revolution is not far from us. The Arab citizen has entered an unprecedented state of anger and frustration.

The publisher was on a rare and delicate mission to translate and mass-market books from America for a part of the world that often rails against American values. Carol Sakoian, a vice president of Scholastic Inc., brought a small group of Arab officials into a conference room to screen a stack of stories. They read and read, about caterpillars, volcanoes, Amelia Earhart, and a big red dog named Clifford. Who would imagine that Clifford could be considered inflammatory?

How can the Arab countries demand that Israel give up land when they don't even recognize its existence? GREGORY DERMER North Hollywood

Hours after riots forced Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali to flee his country, hundreds of Egyptians poured into the streets of Cairo with a warning to their own authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak. "Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!" they chanted late Friday night. "We are next. Listen to the Tunisians; it's your turn, Egyptians!" The slogans were a burst of envy and elation in a country where people have protested for years but have never ignited a mass movement to threaten Mubarak's nearly 30-year-old police state.

More than one miracle Re "Illuminating the possibilities," Opinion, Dec. 7 I appreciated reading Israeli Ambassador Michael B. Oren's thoughts on the horrible fire this week and how a global community, including adversaries of Israel, came together to help. I too was at the White House Hanukkah party and appreciated hearing President Obama send condolences to the Israeli people and promise aid and support. I hope that this will help American and Israeli Jews understand that the president has provided unprecedented security cooperation with Israel.