Arab ministers divided over Iraq

Arab minsters would like to form a unified policy towards Iraq

By Frank Gardner in Cairo

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Jordan have been struggling to resolve their differences over Iraq.

Ministers from 22 Arab countries have convened in Amman to prepare for a two-day Arab summit that begins on Tuesday.

Support for the Palestinians against Israel, and a unified policy towards Iraq are the two key themes of the summit.

Iraq insists that Kuwait should stop looking to the past

So divided is the Arab world over the issue of Iraq that Arab foreign ministers cancelled their planned meetings on Saturday night and huddled instead in hotel rooms.

Thirteen ministers conferred in turn with the Iraqi and Kuwaiti delegates who refused to speak to each other.

They were trying to find a compromise between their opposing points of view but the gap is wide.

Kuwait has been insisting that Iraq formally apologise for its invasion and occupation 11 years ago.

Safety guarantee

It wants other Arab states to guarantee that Iraq will never attack it again and it is demanding that Baghdad return over 600 prisoners that Iraq says it does not have.

The Iraqi leadership says that all this is past history and that instead the summit should be addressing how to lift the UN sanctions imposed on it.

That would be a popular move amongst the Arab public but the region's governments are unlikely to risk upsetting the UN.

Whatever compromise is reached will only be a temporary measure to mask the deep differences that Arabs have over Iraq.

At a time when the Arab world is desperately seeking unity with which to confront Israel, the shadow of the Gulf War still hangs heavy over the entire region.