Global Policy Forum

By Michael Wines

Diplomats from six of Iraq's neighbors papered over ideological differences tonight and issued an almost plaintive plea for President Saddam Hussein to forswear weapons of mass destruction lest "yet another war and all its devastating consequences" consume the region.

But between the lines of the two-page appeal, it was apparent that the six were in less than complete agreement over Washington's hard-line stance toward Mr. Hussein and whether Iraq was solely to blame for the crisis.

Ending 13 hours of closed-door talks, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iran and Saudia Arabia called on Iraqi leaders "to move irreversibly and sincerely" to end the crisis by cooperating more fully with United Nations weapons inspectors and agreeing to long-term monitoring of its weapons programs.

The declaration also called on Iraq to bolster trust with its neighbors and its own Kurdish and Shiite populations by honoring existing treaties and beginning a program of national reconciliation.

The statement met much of the goal of Turkey's new prime minister, Abdullah Gul, who swept to power when his party scored a landslide victory in November elections.

He said before the talks began today that the diplomats had to send Iraq an unambiguous message that it must fully disarm or face ruin.

"Our government is expending an extraordinary effort to resolve this problem without a war," Mr. Gul said, adding: "I want to say clearly here that Iraq could make the biggest contribution to peace. The biggest responsibility lies on Iraq."

But diplomats and others here said Mr. Gul's view was not shared by all. They said tonight's communiqué had been held up well past its scheduled release in part by objections from Syria, which argued for a softer line toward Mr. Hussein and more explicit criticism of Israel and the United States.

People who were briefed on the day's talks said Turkey, the closest ally of the United States at the meeting, had worked to fend off attempts by Syria and others to include Israel with Iraq in any demand for an end to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.

An existing United Nations resolution calls for the creation of a Middle East zone free of such weapons. Israel has long had an unacknowledged nuclear weapons program and has been listed in some American intelligence reports as possessing a chemical weapons arsenal.

An Iranian taking part in the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the negotiators had also been split over whether they should focus solely on Iraq, as Turkey advocated, or should link Israel to the region's broader political problems.

The final communiqué skirted both issues, calling on Iraq to show "continued cooperation" with the United Nations and saying the six countries were committed to carrying out existing United Nations resolutions on the Palestinian situation.

At a news conference this evening, Syria's foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, cast the declaration as a message not just to Iraq, but to the United States.

"The joint declaration is self-explanatory," he said. "The open message and the hidden message is peace, and no war. Our solidarity is with a peaceful solution, and the rejection of military action."

The Iranian diplomat said Mr. Gul had pledged to carry the declaration personally to President Hussein and President Bush, and to deliver any response to a future meeting of the six nations in Damascus.

For some of the governments represented, siding with Washington against Baghdad was seen as a political risk. In many of the countries, the American campaign against Iraq has been denounced by average citizens as a crusade against Islam.

Some of the diplomats appeared to hold out scant hope that today's meeting would lead to a resolution of the conflict. As he left Riyadh for Istanbul, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, called it "a final effort to save the region and Iraq from the horrible consequences of a war."

Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, called the prospect of war "quite high."

"But even though there is little hope, we're doing whatever we can to work it out," he said.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.