The summit’s resolution was a compromise to satisfy both Iraq, which is backed by Syria, and the Gulf Arab states such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain which are hosting U.S. troops massing for the threatened conflict.
Those states, which are bound by defense pacts with Washington, can now argue that, in the event of a war, they are not participating directly and that U.S. forces operating from their soil are doing so under a U.N. mandate.
Following are the highlights of the summit’s resolutions:
* Arab states “stress their firm refusal of a strike on Iraq, of any threat against the security and the territorial integrity of any Arab county, and stress the need to settle the Iraqi crisis peacefully.”
* “Call on all countries to back Arab efforts aimed at avoiding war through the full implementation by Iraq of UN Security Resolution 1441.”
* “Request that sufficient time be given to the (UN weapons) inspection teams in Iraq to complete their mission and call them to complete their mission objectively.”
Those states, which are bound by defense pacts with Washington, can now argue that, in the event of a war, they are not participating directly and that U.S. forces operating from their soil are doing so under a U.N. mandate.
Following are the highlights of the summit’s resolutions:
* Arab states “stress their firm refusal of a strike on Iraq, of any threat against the security and the territorial integrity of any Arab county, and stress the need to settle the Iraqi crisis peacefully.”
* “Call on all countries to back Arab efforts aimed at avoiding war through the full implementation by Iraq of UN Security Resolution 1441.”
* “Request that sufficient time be given to the (UN weapons) inspection teams in Iraq to complete their mission and call them to complete their mission objectively.”