Egypt Foreign Relations Iraq

The ink had barely dried on last month's Arab League decision to allow member states to resume diplomatic ties with Egypt when, with great public fanfare, a high-ranking Egyptian military delegation flew to Kuwait to make a point that it was hoped would not be lost on Iran. Egypt, the unwritten message said, was back in the Arab fold and ready to commit its substantial military resources to the defense of its smaller Persian Gulf allies, should the need arise.

In a sharp rebuke to U.S. policy on Iraq, a senior Egyptian official bluntly told Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Saturday that Iraq is no longer a threat to the region and that the time has come to reconsider the decade-old embargo on Baghdad. "Sanctions should be reconsidered as a weapon or as one of the procedures that the [U.N.] Security Council resorts to," Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said at a joint news conference after Powell held talks with Moussa and President Hosni Mubarak.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's call for a holy war against the United States and its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf was rejected Sunday by powerful Muslim religious leaders, even as the Iraqi leader renewed his demand for destruction of the Western "infidels" and their allies. The latest Iraqi attempt to turn the conflict over Kuwait into a 20th-Century version of the Crusades came Sunday when Baghdad Radio broadcast a seven-minute speech by Hussein.

French President Francois Mitterrand on Sunday made what diplomats described as his clearest call yet for a Palestinian state. In his first televised address since the Gulf War cease-fire, he also proposed that world leaders meet in the U.N. Security Council to discuss the future of the Middle East. "Israel must really enjoy safe and recognized borders and the means of ensuring its security, and Palestinians, as a people, must have their own identity, homeland and state," Mitterrand said.

Arab heads of state postponed an emergency summit Thursday after the Iraqi delegation balked at meeting with Kuwait's deposed emir while the region's top political leaders worked in advance, trying to negotiate an end to Iraq's occupation of the small Persian Gulf emirate.

Leaning in the doorway of a neighbor's cement store, Sayed Mohammed issued his highest praise for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "He is sugar," Mohammed said. "Very sweet. He has made great efforts to resolve this thing peacefully with Iraq." Beside him, store owner Mohammed Saleh nodded in agreement: "We Egyptians are in a powerful position because we have right on our side." "If I see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, I will kill him," added Mohammed, 37. "He's an atheist."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak plunged into emergency diplomacy Tuesday to bridge the noisy rift between Iraq and Kuwait, as the Pentagon announced "short-notice" naval maneuvers for U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has asked the United States to postpone military action against Iraq for up to three months, while a senior Egyptian diplomat said Egypt is not committed to wiping out Iraq's military capability.

Egypt, intensifying its campaign against Iraq, said Saturday that it has restricted the entry of Iraqis and citizens of countries that support Baghdad and prohibited politicians and journalists from attending a pro-Iraq conference. A senior security officer said the curbs apply to Jordanians, Yemenis, Palestinians and Kuwaitis. Previously, citizens of those countries could get six-month visas automatically on arrival in Egypt, like nationals of other Arab countries.

Iraq on Wednesday cut already limited diplomatic relations with the United States and most of its major allies in the Gulf War and promised "revenge" against President Bush for trying "to expel Iraq from the 20th Century."

Egypt, the most populous Arab state and a key partner in the coalition that defeated Baghdad, said IRAQ'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND SOVEREIGNTY should remain intact in any postwar settlement. The government also said any new security arrangements should stipulate the withdrawal of all non-Arab troops from the region. "Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty must be maintained," said Information Minister Safwat Sharif after a Cabinet meeting.

"Our joy is overflowing. Thanks be to God. The enemy is turning tail," declared a broadcast by the radio of the exiled KUWAITI government. SYRIA blamed Iraq for the ill-fated outcome of its Kuwait invasion. "The rulers of Baghdad cannot deny their responsibility for . . . the catastrophe," the government-run Damascus Radio said. EGYPT was skeptical. Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid said the war will not end until Iraq accepts all 12 U.N. edicts.

Iraq on Wednesday cut already limited diplomatic relations with the United States and most of its major allies in the Gulf War and promised "revenge" against President Bush for trying "to expel Iraq from the 20th Century."

To Samia Farid, the war in the Gulf became reality only last Wednesday, when she noticed that the wards in the hospital where she works were being emptied to make room for the casualties Egypt expects to suffer in a ground offensive to liberate Kuwait. "Until then," she said, "I did not realize what it would mean to be at war. It was still too far away. Until then, I supported the government, but now I am not so sure." Slowly but perceptibly, public opinion in Egypt is beginning to shift.

Iraq on Monday predicted the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and said Baghdad-sponsored terrorists will soon strike against American and allied targets worldwide and turn President Bush into "a hostage in his Black House." "Honorable Arab and Muslim masses everywhere are preparing to join the great confrontation and announce the struggle to support Iraq," the official government Baath Party newspaper Al Thawra declared in a commentary that was also broadcast over Baghdad Radio.

Although he had initial misgivings about the deployment of U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has emerged in recent weeks as the most vocal and stalwart Arab supporter of the U.S.-led alliance waging war against Iraq. Besides committing more than 35,000 of its best troops to the war effort, Egypt has taken the lead in holding the Arab component of the alliance together in the face of Iraqi efforts to split it.

French President Francois Mitterrand on Sunday made what diplomats described as his clearest call yet for a Palestinian state. In his first televised address since the Gulf War cease-fire, he also proposed that world leaders meet in the U.N. Security Council to discuss the future of the Middle East. "Israel must really enjoy safe and recognized borders and the means of ensuring its security, and Palestinians, as a people, must have their own identity, homeland and state," Mitterrand said.

Egypt, the most populous Arab state and a key partner in the coalition that defeated Baghdad, said IRAQ'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND SOVEREIGNTY should remain intact in any postwar settlement. The government also said any new security arrangements should stipulate the withdrawal of all non-Arab troops from the region. "Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty must be maintained," said Information Minister Safwat Sharif after a Cabinet meeting.

Egyptian military planners believe that Iraq, timing its counter-strike for maximum political as well as military effect, is waiting for the allies to launch a ground offensive before it commits its air force and its stocks of chemical weapons to the battle for Kuwait. "The only reason we can see for Iraq holding its planes back is that it plans to arm them with chemicals and use them when the ground attack starts because that is when they calculate such weapons will be most useful to them.