- AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Countries that border Iraq fear they would
be the victims of economic and political fallout from an American attack
aimed at forcing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to co-operate with UN weapons
inspectors.
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- Jordan, Turkey and Iran again may have
to deal with huge waves of refugees, as they did - with almost no international
help - during the 1990 Persian Gulf crisis and 1991 Gulf War. Along with
Syria, they have important trade links with Iraq. And all are watching
with dismay as foreign tourists cancel reservations for what had been expected
to be a lucrative spring season.
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- Only Kuwait, which hasn't forgiven Saddam
for his 1990 invasion of the country, has offered to support an American-led
military campaign. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, which participated with the
U.S.-led coalition that ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, won't even allow
its military bases to be used this time. Neither will Jordan or Turkey.
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- No one wants to get dragged into a conflict
that most certainly would spread if Iraq retaliates by firing Scuds or
other missiles at Israel - and, as promised, Israel responds with greater
force.
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- "We all lived the burden of the
(Gulf) War," Turkey's prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz, said earlier this
month. "And we don't want to live it again."
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- Labib Kamhawi, a political science professor
at Jordan University, said on Sunday that, in the short run, striking Iraq
"will have a devastating economic impact that could trigger instability
in the neighboring countries."
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- Jordan is almost entirely dependent on
Iraq for oil, and Iraq is the main market for Jordanian-made products.
Turkey complains it has lost $35 billion US in trade with Iraq since the
Gulf War and encourages a daily procession of Turkish trucks to carry food
and textiles across the border to Iraq and return with oil. Syria recently
signed its first contracts to sell food and soap to Iraq under a UN-approved
program.
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- Iran, though it fought a devastating
war with Iraq in the 1980s, is selling more and more products to Baghdad.
It also apparently is turning a blind eye to what Iraqi opposition groups
say is the extensive smuggling of Iraqi oil through Iran's Gulf ports.
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- Many Arab leaders also must deal with
their citizens' concerns that seven years of punishing UN sanctions have
pauperized Iraq's 22 million people. Already there have been pro-Iraq -
and anti-American - demonstrations in Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Yemen and the
Palestinian territories, despite government bans aimed at keeping emotions
in check.
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- Worries that a U.S.-led strike could
lead to a partitioning of Iraq - a major concern during the Gulf War -
again are being discussed. It was no surprise that Turkish Foreign Minister
Ismail Cem, a mediator dispatched to Baghdad earlier this month, called
for a regional security plan that would meet Saddam's "concerns for
Iraq's territorial integrity."
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- Syria and the Palestinians, meanwhile,
have watched the U.S.-brokered peace process stalemate following the election
of hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in mid-1996. Now,
they feel their cause has been relegated to the back burner.
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- "The United States and Britain are
taking the limelight from the Palestinian issue and focusing world attention
on Iraq," complained Omar Khatib, the Palestinian representative to
Jordan.
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