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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (25804)	4/17/2002 5:27:35 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 281500

UPI Hears ... Chief International Correspondent From the International Desk Published 4/17/2002 12:27 PM WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- Insider notes from United Press International for April 17 -0- American and European security officials have been casting a wary eye over the latest batch of captured Palestinian Authority documents that are being shopped around by the Israelis, that suggest Yasser Arafat's PA had a strong interest in developing weapons of mass destruction. The Israelis are eager neither to cry wolf nor to oversell the evidence they have. They insist that even after sifting three truckloads of papers and computer files from PA offices in Ramallah they have no evidence that any development program was actually launched, and assert that the PA's interest was in chemical and biological weapons, not nukes. -0- Whatever the White House and State Department spin meisters are saying, deep gloom pervades the Arab world after what they see as the failure of the Colin Powell mission. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was so furious at the failure of Powell to apply any serious U.S. pressure on Israel, despite the mandate Powell got from the Europeans, Russians and United Nations at his meting in Madrid, Spain, that he canceled a planned meeting with Powell on the way back to Washington. Mubarak claimed to be "indisposed" -- and is now bracing for more mass demonstrations in Cairo and Alexandria. Jordan, America's other Arab friend in the region, is equally incensed. Queen Rania of Jordan has accused Israel of responsibility for a "human-rights catastrophe" on the West Bank. The Europeans are also dismayed, with left-wingers saying the Israeli military's exclusion of medical workers is a war crime. "There are no circumstances which justify this and countries which purport to be democratic have a special responsibility in this respect," EU development Commissioner Poul Nielson said Wednesday. -0- Some Arab states are gritting their teeth and sticking by the United States, and prime among them are the Gulf sheikhdoms of Qatar and Oman, picked to replace Saudi Arabia as the main U.S. military base in the region. Although their forthcoming exercise "Eagles Decisiveness 2002," scheduled to take place in Doha from May 11 to May 13, is supposedly taking place under auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council, this one is between the two Arab states -- with planning and staff assistance from their American friends. Significantly, the Saudis have not been invited -- although the Qataris are still hoping to bring in some suitably supportive Saudi observers. Omani Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Khamis Bin Hamid Al Kalbani, who also supervised the massive 25,000-troop British exercise with Oman last October, will help run the new exercise in Qatar. upi.com