- DUBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab newspapers on Monday welcomed the
deal over Iraq weapons inspections and warned the United States against
going ahead with a military strike. Most papers ran headlines announcing
the success of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in reaching a deal with
Iraq that looked set to defuse the threat of war. They were written before
Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz signed an agreement which
Annan said he would put before the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
-
- Most editorials voiced concern that the
United States would still go ahead with a military strike. ``The international
community must be breathing a little easier last night to hear the news
from Baghdad...But the question remains whether U.S. and British military
strikes against Iraq could be averted,'' said Qatar's Gulf Times.
-
- ``...Any rejection of the agreement will
surely invite more protests, particularly in the Arab world, and deal a
blow to the endangered Mideast peace process,'' it added. Qatar's al-Raya
said: ``Annan's success confirms that dialogue and diplomacy are the best
way to settle conflict and that the presence of the United States should
remain within the corridors of the United Nations....
-
- ``Clinton should not be putting the final
touches for a war at a time when Annan is announcing he is about to succeed.''
It said the crisis had revealed that ``Clinton has a narrow view of the
region and his dream to escape Monica has plunged him and his administration
into a predicament whose effects might be more negative than sex scandals
in Washington,'' a reference to allegations, denied by Clinton, that he
had a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Annan
said he thought the agreement with Iraq ending the dispute over weapons
inspections would be acceptable to members of the Security Council.
-
- ``In my view, the terms of this agreement,
which have been concluded in writing, are acceptable and remove a major
obstacle to the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions,''
he told a news conference. The United States had threatened air strikes
if Iraq did not give U.N. weapons inspectors free access to all sites and
has said it reserved the right to act unilaterally if Annan's deal failed
to meet its demands.
-
- It said there were no immediate plans
to reduce the U.S. military presence in the Gulf. Gulf Arab states, which
took part in the U.S.-led military alliance that ended Iraq's occupation
of Kuwait in 1991, had this time expressed opposition to a U.S. military
strike on Baghdad and said they wanted to see a peaceful end to the crisis.
-
- The United Arab Emirates' Gulf News daily
said: ``With Annan reported to have reached an agreement to defuse the
crisis, it remains to be seen whether Washington will put its war preparations
on hold. The U.S. claims that force will be used only as a last resort
but its actions thus far reveal otherwise. ``The U.S. must understand that
it cannot rise to the defence of U.N. resolutions only to act unilaterally.''
-
- Qatar's Asharq newspaper said: ``It is
early to paint a rosy picture for the visit by the U.N. secretary-general...''
It expressed fears the United States might ``ignore Annan's success and
Iraq's cooperation and commit what could not be accepted or justified.''
-
- It urged the United States administration
to deal ``with an open mind with this serious crisis and avoid any miscalculation
that might lead to a disaster.'' In Bahrain, the Gulf Daily News said:
``America's military industrial complex is an empire founded by war which
can only nourish and maintain itself through war.'' ^REUTERS@
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