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IRAQ: GCC Discusses UN Role, But Focuses on Syria
By N Janardhan
DUBAI, Apr 16 (IPS) - After barely coming to terms with events in Iraq, the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have had more to do than just
discuss the post-Saddam era. The meeting of six foreign ministers in Riyadh
that ended early Wednesday focused on another regional crisis brewing in
Syria.
Caught between their solidarity to Syria as a fellow Arab country and the
United Sates as a strategic ally, the GCC - comprising Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain - rejected Washington's
accusations that Damascus was developing chemical weapons and sheltering
Iraqi leaders.
While the meeting emphasised that the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq should
end quickly and demanded a central role for the United Nations in the
rebuilding process, the regional forum also said: "We think the threat to
Syria should stop. We don't think Syria wants a war or to escalate any
situation.We reject any infringement of Syria's security."
The GCC, which was established in 1981 in the wake of Iran's Islamic
revolution and the political threat arising therefrom, underlined the
centrality of the United Nations in Iraq's reconstruction, and called for an
immediate end to the anarchy seen since the collapse of Saddam's regime.
"No one can imagine that the rebuilding task can be completed without
real U.N. participation," said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim al-Thani, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the GCC.
In a statement that reflected the mood of the Iraqi public - slowly, but
certainly, beginning to resent American domination in the country - the
minister said: "Iraq is now considered occupied and we hope there will be an
Iraqi civil administration as soon as possible."
The GCC, he said, considers "the creation of an Iraqi transitional
government important because Iraqis won't accept a government from outside
for long," and added that the events in Iraq will have regional
repercussions.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are particularly worried by the developments in
Iraq because both have vast Shiite population.
Bahrain, which like Iraq has a Shiite majority ruled by Sunnis, is
closely eyeing the changes because it has overcome more than two decades of
sectarian strife by conducting parliamentary elections just last year.
Any Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq over power sharing is bound to be a
source of renewed trouble.
As a result, the GCC sought the "establishment of a national Iraqi
government that includes all currents of the Iraqi people, even if it is
only transitional".
According to regional analysts, the demands for a "rule by Iraqis" and
"UN role" are also because the leadership council that was supposed to be
the nucleus of a future government has been shunned by former Iraqi foreign
minister Adnan Pachachi, who has been living in the UAE for over two
decades.
Pachachi is seen as the most credible representative of Iraqi Sunnis,
whose inclusion in a post-Saddam administration is seen as important not
just for Sunnis but also for the Sunni-dominated neighbours.
As compared to some opposition groups, which oppose a UN role in post-war
Iraq, Pachachi has championed a UN-backed transitional administration that
could possibly be selected through an enlarged Afghan-style Iraqi
conference.
These factors have diluted Pentagon-backed Shiite leader and Iraqi
National Congress President Ahmad Chalabi's campaign to lead Iraq.
Other than Iraq, the GCC ministers' conference also took note of the
U.S.-Syria spat.
During the course of the war on Iraq, and particularly after the fall of
Baghdad, the U.S. officials have ratcheted up accusations against Syria.
"We are watching this with great care and if there is any problem to be
solved it is to be solved by direct negotiations by both sides," Sheikh
Hamad said.
The Editor of the U.A.E.-based 'The Gulf Today', PV Vivekanand, said
Washington is overplaying the linkage between the two countries: "Though
Iraq and Syria share a common Baathist ideology, the neighbours don't share
an ideal bilateral relationship, as is evident from Damascus' support for
Tehran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war."
Stressing the GCC concerns for Syria, he said: "Though Kuwait was the
main launch pad and Qatar hosted the main U.S. and British command centre
for the campaign in Iraq, and Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's
Fifth Fleet, Syria is a different proposition."
Iraq, according to the Middle East expert, was perceived as a direct
threat to the GCC countries because of Saddam's invasion and occupation of
Kuwait in 1990-91 and his utterances about annexing the rest.
The decision to either directly support the U.S.-led invasion or not
stand in the way of the U.S. campaign in Iraq was, hence, strategic and one
that was far easier to sell domestically.
"But Syria is at the core of the Palestinian issue and is home to a
number of hard line, splinter Palestinian resistance groups," Vivekanand
said. "Damascus has been a force to reckon with on pan-Arab issues and a
party that is directly involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because
of the Golan Heights."
For the GCC to not back Syria to the hilt in the face of U.S. accusations
"would not just be letting Palestinians down, but hard to justify to its
peoples who harbour strong anti-U.S. and anti-Israel sentiments because of
the atrocities in the Jewish-occupied territories," he added.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is scheduled to host another emergency meeting of
Iraq's neighbours on Friday - one that includes Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iran
and Jordan. (END/2003)
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