Mubarak's statements on the close Shia association with Iran might have caused unintentional sensitivities. However, as Dina Ezzat reports, they send a clear appeal for non-intervention in Iraqi affairs Upon instructions from its Shia Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, Iraq yesterday boycotted a limited Arab ministerial meeting that was tailored to address no other than Iraqi developments. The ministerial meeting of the Iraq committee met yesterday at the Cairo Arab League headquarters to discuss ways of helping Iraqis form their overdue government and find a horizon to end what otherwise seems to be an endless bloodbath inundating the country for over three years. Formed over a year ago, the committee brings together along with the secretary-general of the Arab League, the foreign minister of Iraq and his counterparts Egypt, Sudan (the current chair of the Arab summit), Algeria (the former chair), Saudi Arabia (the next chair), Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Jordan. However, yesterday Iraq was absent. Top Iraqi officials in Baghdad made no secret of their decision to boycott the meeting that they for weeks have been calling for. Iraqi officials, especially leading Shia figures -- the majority of the Iraqi population -- have been angered, to say the least, by criticism made by President Hosni Mubarak, in a recent interview with the Saudi- owned TV news network Al-Arabiya on the "ultra close association of Shia with Iran". The statements, made by the president within the context of examining the current state of civil unrest -- if not downright civil war as some US sources assess -- were meant, as Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad said later, to warn against the unmistakably growing ethnic divisions in Iraq and to appeal for non- intervention in Iraq's internal affairs. As Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit stated later, following a call with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari, nobody is opposed to the "natural affinity" among Shias. The concern, Abul-Gheit said, is about foreign intervention in Iraq which has failed to serve the interests of stability in the country. These eloquent statements and similar ones made during extensive rounds of calls made by Abul-Gheit and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa failed to persuade Iraq to make an appearance even at a low diplomatic level. In fact, the most leading Shia figure in Iraq, Ayatollah Al-Sistani, who lived for decades in Iran, sent a message to President Mubarak expressing disappointment at the statements. And the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, to quote Cairo-based sources, insists that Egypt must somehow contain the anger of Iraqi Shias before any senior Iraqi official is given a permit to visit Cairo. As such, the meeting failed to produce any earth-shaking results despite the high-level foreign ministerial participation. The meeting called for the prompt preparations of the convocation of the Arab League-sponsored Iraq national accord conference in Baghdad in June, as has been planned for the past few weeks. The meeting also underlined the need for the swift operation of the Arab League diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital with an eye on keeping Iraq closely associated with its natural Arab milieu. "It is very clear that there is genuine concern among Arab countries over current developments in Iraq," an Arab League source said. "Despite whatever disappointments or misunderstandings, the Iraqis should have attended, at least to make coherent demands, especially that many of their top officials have often criticised what they qualify as low-level Arab attention to the Iraqi plight." He added that the Arab organisation will try to recap during future bilateral talks with Iraqi officials. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on the sidelines, Arab diplomats argued that the matter will be contained even if it takes some time. And in statements made hours before the mid-day opening of the meetings, Awad said that it would have been in the interest of Iraq to take part in the meeting, especially that "it is hosted by the Arab League to which Iraq is a leading and founding member." Speaking to the Weekly on background basis, Egyptian diplomatic sources argued that Cairo will do everything it can to contain the anger of Shias in Iraq and elsewhere but added there was a red line: a public apology. "We can understand sensitivities and we can talk about the wording here and there but we cannot put our heads in the sand when it comes to the obvious Iranian influence in Iraq," commented one source who asked that his name be withheld. After all, he added, nobody can deny that Iran is a key player in Iraq -- not even the Americans who are about to start a direct and strategic dialogue with the Iranians over Iraq. The furore across many a Shia quarter over the nuances of the presidential statements failed to acknowledge this political dimension. Leading Shia figures and commentators in the Arab Gulf countries, some of which have considerable Shia populations, focussed instead on the direct reading of the statements that suggested that the affinity of Shias to Iran is sometimes not in favour of their immediate national interests. In Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, leading Shia figures jumped to assert their patriotic affiliation and to underline the harmless nature of their affiliation with Iran. Arab officials in the Gulf countries also exerted an exceptional effort to alienate themselves with any hints against the loyalty of their Shia constituencies. However, as some Arab diplomats in Cairo indicated, irrespective of official statements, there is increasing concern in many Arab capitals, especially in the Gulf, over growing Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs. This, they said, is an issue that was extensively discussed during the Arab summit which convened late last month in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. "Let's be honest," commented one Arab diplomat. "Everybody knows that Iran is tampering with the situation in Iraq in a bid to get a deal with the Americans over its nuclear programme. We all understand this. "However, at this particularly difficult moment, it is not in anybody's interest as such to point fingers." Meanwhile, other Arab diplomats, especially from some Arab Gulf capitals, indicated concern that Egypt might be over-reacting to the Iranian influence due to its cold ties with Iran. Diplomatic relations between Cairo and Tehran were severed in the late 1970s with the start of the Iranian Revolution. Every attempt to mend fences has been reversed mainly over the Egyptian worry -- Iranian diplomats qualify as most unfounded -- about Tehran's attempt to "export its revolution across the Islamic world" and to preach Shia values. "Egypt may not wish to have relations with Iran and it is entitled to be concerned but we have a large Shia population and we cannot get into a Shia-vs-Sunni debate," commented one senior Bahraini diplomat. For their part, Egyptian diplomatic sources categorically denied allegations that Egypt was trying to drag Arab countries into a confrontation with Iraq over Cairo's own account. "This is not true at all," a senior Egyptian source said. "In Khartoum, many Arab ministers said there was concern over Iran's exaggerated influence in Iraq and that Arabs had to consider a cooperation mechanism with Iraq independent of both Iran and Turkey." He added that anybody who listened attentively to President Mubarak's statements would realise that he was arguing against foreign intervention by anyone in the affairs of Arab countries. "He even said that Egypt refrains from interfering in the affairs of any Arab country and that he had advised Damascus to contain any intervention, by some of its ill-guided officials, in Lebanese affairs," the source said. In courtesy to the Shia sentiment, Cairo chose to print an official text of the presidential interview with Al-Arabiya after having eliminated the said quotes. It highlighted quotes selected by the Egyptian press, including Mubarak's direct reference to the Iraqis' rejection of foreign forces on their territory. At a press conference held after the Iraq committee ministerial meeting, Moussa rebuffed questions aimed at further elaborating on the unfortunate incident. "The key thing is to protect Iraq's territorial integrity and ethnic unity." Moreover, Moussa argued it would be absurd to overlook the real plight of Iraq which is deeply related to the continued foreign occupation of this Arab country. The Iraq committee called upon all Iraqis to put their national unity above all else and to refrain from getting into unnecessary ethnic debates. Meanwhile, both Moussa and Hussein Al-Shaali, the United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs, who is currently chairing all Arab foreign ministers' meeting, asserted the possibility that a follow-up meeting might be held in a few days. "We have not adjourned the meeting. This meeting remains open and we could meet any time, hopefully with Iraqi participation, to discuss the ongoing developments in Iraq," Al-Shaali said. For his part, Moussa said any future meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo. Moussa sounded convinced that the Iraqis could make an appearance at the next meeting. "I spoke to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari and Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari and there is clear understanding that this summer's cloud should pass soon." Meanwhile, Moussa affirmed the need for direct Arab-Iranian dialogue "on all issues of common and conflicting interests".
