The US Vice President, Mr Dick Cheney, gained valuable Arab support yesterday for the US pressure campaign against Iraq, with Egyptian President Mubarak saying Egypt would push Iraq to accept international arms inspectors.
"We'll try hard with Saddam Hussein to accept the UN inspectors to go there," Mr Mubarak told reporters at a joint news conference with Mr Cheney. "We are going to meet some of his special envoys and tell them that this is a must."
Asked whether Saddam should be toppled if he did not admit inspectors, Mr Mubarak left the door open to further action, saying: "If there is nothing happening, we'll find out what could be done in that direction."
Mr Mubarak's comments on Iraq were a welcome development for Mr Cheney, whose Middle East swing got off to a rocky start on Tuesday when Jordan's King Abdullah warned him against attacking Iraq.
The Egyptian leader is due to meet Mr Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, tomorrow. Mr Ibrahim was in Lebanon yesterday attemptomg to organise opposition against a possible US strike.
Mr Mubarak said he understood the Iraqi president would accept the return of the inspectors, through negotiations with the UN. Washington has insisted on unconditional inspections of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities.
Mr Mubarak also offered cautions concerning Iraq, saying "every possible effort" should be made to resolve the impasse over weapons inspections "without inflicting more suffering on the Iraqi people".
It was also vital to maintain Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty, Mr Mubarak added. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are also concerned about a possible break-up of Iraq following any departure by President Saddam.
Earlier, in a speech to US troops at a international peacekeeping post in the Sinai, Cheney said the next objective in the US-led war on terrorism, after crushing the al Qaeda network of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, would be keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists.
Meanwhile, The Iraqi Vice President, Mr Taha Yassin Ramadan, said Iraqis would not be intimidated by US threats and will rally around President Saddam to thwart any attack on their country.
"The intensification of US threats to launch a new terrorist attack will not weaken the resolve of the Iraqi people, who have been valiantly facing the blatant aggression and unfair embargo that have been ongoing for more than 11 years," Mr Ramadan said.- (Reuters)
US political unity on Iraq hides private wrangles: page 14