Gates reassures Egypt over war in neighboring Libya
By Craig Whitlock and Edward Cody, Wednesday, March 23
CAIRO — The United States and its allies are straining to maintain Arab support
for the war in Libya
as pledges of military participation by outside Arab countries have not
materialized and popular opinion in the region begins to shift.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates
arrived in Cairo to reassure Egyptian officials that the fighting and
instability in Libya would not spill over the border, U.S. officials
said. Gates met with Egypt’s new prime minister, Essam Sharaf, and was
scheduled to see the country’s military ruler, Field Marshal Mohammed
Hussein Tantawi, on Thursday.
“The Egyptians obviously have a lot
of concerns about Libya,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking
on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. “I’m
sure the field marshal will be anxious to hear from the secretary on
what’s going on.”
The Obama administration has said Arab backing
was a critical factor in its decision to push for the U.N. Security
Council resolution authorizing the military intervention in Libya.
Specifically, the White House has cited the Arab League’s endorsement of a
no-fly zone over Libya, as well as promises by Arab countries to join in the
operation.
Since the no-fly zone was imposed, however, the Arab League has expressed
concern about civilian casualties, and no Arab country has yet played a direct
military role.
Qatar
has deployed four fighter jets to the Mediterranean region and could
help enforce the no-fly zone in the coming days, according to NATO
officials, but the Persian Gulf emirate has been coy about its precise
intentions.
The United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia —
all previously floated as potential Arab partners in the coalition —
have either remained silent or rejected entreaties to dispatch armed
forces to Libya. Egypt has also demurred, saying it is preoccupied by
the revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak last month,
according to U.S. officials.
Gates referred indirectly to Qatar’s role Wednesday but gave no indication that
other Arab countries would provide air power.
“At
least one country is participating, but I don’t know if they’ve
announced it yet, so I’m hesitant to do so myself,” he said in response
to a reporter’s query about Arab members of the military coalition. “A
number are providing support and assistance, for example, overflight
rights and access and so on.”
Meanwhile, signs were emerging that
Arab public opinion has shifted, with concern growing that the U.S.-led
military campaign could turn into a long-term occupation similar to the
war in Iraq.
In a carefully worded statement Tuesday evening,
Al-Azhar University, Egypt’s preeminent seat of Islamic learning, warned
against any foreign occupation of Libyan land and cautioned “the United
States of America and European countries against dividing Libya and
destroying its human and national wealth, as happened in Iraq.”
The
university’s Islamic scholars also criticized Arab leaders — in an
implicit reference to the Arab League — for inviting outside
intervention in Libya and supporting the no-fly zone.
“We had
believed the era of such interventions had gone, never to return,” the
statement read. “Al-Azhar condemns the Arab and Islamic world and its
institutions and organizations for their negativity and not living up to
their duty to resolve our internal political, economic and other
problems, which has set the stage for foreign military intervention.”
At
a news conference in Cairo, an Egyptian journalist echoed the sentiment
by telling Gates of “fears” that Libya could turn into another Iraq and
asking how he could guarantee that the United States would not occupy
the country.
Gates responded that there were “dramatic
differences” between the two military conflicts and emphasized that the
White House has pledged not to send ground troops to Libya. He also
referred to the Arab League decision to request intervention. “It came
from the region itself asking that the United Nations take action to
prevent Gaddafi from killing his own people,” he said of Libya’s leader.
Ironically, Gates has been a leading skeptic of the no-fly zone within
the Obama administration. Before the U.N. Security Council vote, he
warned publicly that Washington should gird for a popular backlash among
Arabs if it became involved in a war in another Muslim country.
Signs have also emerged that al-Qaeda’s leadership, which has been noticeably
absent from the political unrest across the Arab world, is seeking to exploit
public concerns about the U.S. military presence in Libya.
The leader of al-Qaeda’s franchise in North Africa, Abdelmalek Droukdel,
warned the Libyan rebel movement this week against trusting
the United States and its European allies. Although the air campaign
may seem welcome now, he said, the real aim of Western intervention was
to get at Libya’s oil riches.
Droukdel hailed “the winds of
change” that he said are blowing across the Arab world and urged rebel
movements in Tunisa, Egypt and elsewhere to come to the defense of their
Libyan counterparts against Moammar Gaddafi.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gates-reassures-egypt-over-war-in-neighboring-libya/2011/03/23/ABSCbDKB_story.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
