Cairo shares increasing international concern over the fate of Iraq, reports Dina Ezzat This week, following a meeting held at the Arab League, Egypt's permanent representative to the Arab Organisation, Hani Khallaf, said Cairo fully supported Secretary- General Amr Moussa's proposal that the Arab foreign ministers committee on Iraq convene. "Egypt believes that there is a need for coordinated Arab efforts to put an end to the blood bath in Iraq," Khallaf told reporters. The 15-member committee, which brings together Iraq's Arab neighbours and the troika of the Arab summit, Egypt and the secretary-general of the Arab League, is now scheduled to meet on 5 December at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League. The meeting comes against a backdrop of growing sectarian conflict in Iraq and a confused political situation resulting from the decision of the Iraqi government to arrest Harith Al-Dari, one of the country's leading Sunni figures. During a visit to Cairo earlier this week, during which he met with Arab League and Egyptian officials, Al-Dari was bitter, say sources, in his criticism of the Iraqi government and what he what he perceives as the anti-Sunni bias of the current Iraqi administration. In press statements made in Cairo, Al-Dari struck a far from reconciliatory note, calling on Arab governments and the Arab League to "withdraw recognition from the current Iraqi government or else be prepared for a sectarian disaster in Iraq". During their meetings at the Arab League next Monday, Arab governments are unlikely to be discussing ways of meeting Al-Dari's demands. Arab diplomatic sources say that the focus of the meeting will be on finding ways to give momentum to political dialogue that could eventually reduce the level of sectarian violence in favour of a political process. It is something they acknowledge will not come about immediately. Iraqi Foreign Minister Houshiar Zebari is expected to hold talks with senior Egyptian officials prior to the Arab ministerial meeting. Cairo will press the visiting Iraqi official to commit to a specific set of measures aimed at reducing the growing level of tension. Among the measures Cairo and other concerned Arab capitals are keen to see implemented is better enforcement of joint Sunni- Shia checkpoints between neighbourhoods to reduce sectarian killings. Zebari will also be urged to ensure more effort is put into securing Sunni neighbourhoods and that the killings of Sunnis be promptly investigated. Egyptian and Arab efforts on Iraq are set to increase in the coming weeks and months. The diplomatic flurry is induced by concern over the increasing acknowledgment in Arab capitals that Iraq could disintegrate. "This is something Egypt will work very hard to prevent. Egypt is committed to Iraq's territorial integrity. We mean it; we do not just say it," said one Egyptian diplomat. According to US and Arab sources, Washington -- both Congress and the administration -- has for some time been requesting that Arab capitals, especially Cairo, play a greater role in helping end the current crisis in Iraq. American sources say that while the disintegration of Iraq may not be viewed in Washington with as much concern as it is in many Arab capitals, particularly those Arab Gulf countries that fear the establishment of an independent Iraqi Shia state, both Washington and its Arab allies are keen to contain the chaos. The same sources add that during the past few days US President George Bush has conveyed messages to several Arab capitals about the need for Arab allies to help the US find an exit strategy that will not undermine the territorial integrity of Iraq. Speaking to reporters in Cairo on Monday, Democratic Congresswoman Diane Watson said the US is counting very much on "the wisdom of President Hosni Mubarak and the influential role of Cairo" to help in the Iraqi crisis.
