Fear of Shia Iran’s influenc
Cairo: Arab nations will support the new US plan for Iraq in exchange for an American push to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, despite fears over Shia dominance in Iraq and concern for its Sunni population.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had attended a summit in Kuwait Monday with representatives of the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as Egypt and Jordan.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told reporters Wednesday upon his return from the summit “(US President George) Bush s strategy is not merely a military action or operation or a unilateral military program. It represents a vision with different political, military and economic aspects.
Researcher in Gulf Affairs Ahsraf El Essawy told The Daily Star Egypt that the Arabs, especially the GCC countries, were supporting Bush’s new plan for the region because they were feared Shia dominance in Iraq.
“The Shia in Iraq is a cause of worry for the region, especially because the Shia population in the Gulf nations will begin to ask for more political representation. They have already made significant gains in some Gulf countries including Kuwait. So the Gulf want Shia dominance in Iraq tempered so it doesn’t encourage the Gulf Shias to seek political gains, he said.
Essawy added that the Gulf nations care about stability in Iraq, and so Rice is trying to convince them that the US can control the Shia.
The Arabs voiced their concern over whether the US would be able to curb Shia dominance in the Iraqi political establishment.
The current Iraqi government is composed of mostly Shia factions, some openly allied with Iran. The cabinet of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is also supported by junior cleric Muqtada Sadr’s Mehdi militia, which US and Iraqi groups have blamed for much of the sectarian violence in the past year.
Abul Gheit said that the US and Iraqi forces must rein in Shia militias who have been killing Iraq’s Sunnis. He added that those present at the Kuwait meetings had held the Iraqi government responsible for curtailing sectarian violence.
Rice herself had voiced doubts about whether the current Iraqi government would proceed with an “evenhanded, non-sectarian path towards curbing the sectarian strife in Iraq.
“Arabs need to know specifically what can the Americans and the Iraqis do to end sectarian domination of the government, a diplomat told AP on condition of anonymity.
Arab officials had declared that they will offer a bargain to the US dubbed “Iraq for land wherein they will support the incumbent Iraqi government in exchange for a solution to the Palestinian issue, which they feel is the crux of unrest and discontent in the Middle East.
Essawy told The Daily Star Egypt “Rice’s visit as to gain support for Bush’s new Iraq plan and so she will offer the deal to seek a solution for Palestine in exchange for Arab support in Iraq. Therefore, she will make a push for a Palestinian solution.
Abul Gheit stated that although the Iraq file was top of the agenda in the summit, there was a strong call to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and that it was paramount that Palestinian infighting cease for the process to move along.
Dr Mohammed Abdel-Salam an expert from the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies previously told The Daily Star Egypt that it’s not so much an exchange being negotiated between Arab countries and the US, but rather an attempt to tackle all issues in the region comprehensively.
“They are searching for a regional road map. For the first time there’s talk about all the issues in the region. Last time there was talk about moderate countries versus extremist ones. The US is now seeking stability in the Middle East, he said.
However a Kuwaiti recommendation for the US to work with Iran and Syria on solving the problems in the region was rebuffed because Bush was opposed to the idea according to AP.
American Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns will make another visit to the region in order to appease Arab fears over Iraq, AP reported.
Arab concern over the Sunni community in Iraq, with which it has maintained strong ties over the years, has also been growing.
It was that relationship which cost Egyptian Ambassador to Iraq Ihab Al-Sharif his life in July 2005; he was kidnapped by Shia militants while on his way to a meeting with members of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), a predominantly Sunni group.
He was killed five days later.
Editor in chief of Al-Osboa newspaper Mustapha Bakry wrote in a recent issue of the newspaper, “Maliki and Talibani and all sectarians are fanning the flames of war on the Arab Sunnis, and added that this war is “in the shadows of the occupiers’ protection.
“It’s a sectarian conflict with the aim of ethnically cleansing the Sunnis. This is a movement in coordination with the Iranians and Americans because the Sunnis are the only ones resisting the occupation. Sunnis are kidnapped in Shia areas by the Interior Ministry and armed militias and tortured and killed, Bakry told The Daily Star Egypt.
President Hosni Mubarak had stated in the past that the Iraqi Shias’ allegiance was to Iran, rather than to their own country.
An Egyptian official denied that there distinctions were made between Sunni and Shia in Egyptian policy. “Our doors are open to all; we do not differentiate between Sunni and Shia. Our policy is everyone is welcome, he told The Daily Star Egypt.
He added that each case of someone coming into Egypt is decided on its own merits. “We have an open door policy; it is applicable to Iraqis like any other nationality. We don’t close doors, Egypt is an open country. Applicants are required to go through a process, which includes a general security check and possession of a certain amount of money if they desire a residency permit.
Although at the onset of the war in 2003 only 800 Iraqis had fled to Egypt, there are now 100,000, the large majority of them coming in 2006.
Advisor Alaa Roushdy, spokesman for the Arab League, also refuted the possibility of distinctions being made by the league. “We have serious concerns for everybody in Iraq, not just the Sunnis, he told The Daily Star Egypt.
