Fresh resolve in war on terror hindered by Mideast mistrust
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) – Middle East countries from Egypt to the Persian Gulf have shown new resolve to counter Islamic militants who have staged bloody attacks at home and fueled the Iraq insurgency, a sign of how the global war against terrorism has stirred regimes’ survival instincts. Nations have agreed to share intelligence and cooperate on controlling borders and have signed fresh security pacts, although their history of disputes and rivalries means they don’t always follow through on lofty words – and they tend to rely on Washington as a critical intermediary.
The first call often goes to American officials and gets action when Arab brotherhood doesn’t, Middle Eastern counterterrorism and government officials told The Associated Press.
“The information might be first delivered to United States security agencies and then it might or might not be shared with the Arab country concerned,” Deputy Yemeni Foreign Minister Mustapha Noman said. “In general, this is what’s happening because the United States shows more interest and more concern.”
But Arab and American priorities differ, and Noman stressed there are many security issues discussed solely among Arab countries that don’t involve the global war on terrorism, such as citizens of one Arab country joining up with government opponents in another.
Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, bilateral security cooperation agreements and Arab League pacts existed, but weren’t a priority.
In the turbulent era after, Arab leaders’ survival instincts kicked in: Old pacts were renewed, new ones signed and informal understandings reached on intelligence-sharing and border security.
Political agendas have interfered at times with security cooperation among Arab countries, but there has been improvement since the U.S.-led war on terrorism began, counterterrorism officials said, although they acknowledged information-sharing could be better.
Mideast regimes have been dealing with Islamic militancy for decades, cracking down on or co-opting extremists in a way that muted fanaticism – and silenced most opposition – at home.
Since Sept. 11, however, terrorists have been fighting back more vigorously.
Saudi Arabia has been hit particularly hard, with shooting rampages, bombings and kidnappings largely targeting foreign residents. Jordan foiled a plot earlier this year in which Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi – the terror leader behind beheadings and bombings in Iraq – was implicated in a conspiracy to carry out a major chemical attack in the kingdom.
Most recently, simultaneous bombings Oct. 7 in Egypt targeted Israeli tourists at Sinai resorts, killing 34 people. Officially, the Egyptians have pinned the bombings on a Palestinian born and raised in Sinai who died in one of the explosions and an assorted crew of locals.
But security officials privately say Islamic groups based outside Egypt may have been involved; Israel and the United States suspect Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization.
Egyptian security officials involved in investigating possible involvement by foreign militants said they are invoking a pan-Arab pact largely ignored until after Sept. 11.
They said Egypt had contacted Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Libya, seeking information on possible Islamic militant suspects, money transfers or communications.
Whether they received satisfactory responses was less clear.
The region’s modern past is full of wars and trust-bruising episodes, including the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war; Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait; Sudan’s sheltering of suspects in a 1995 failed assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; and an alleged Libyan plot hatched in 2003 to kill Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah after the two leaders publicly exchanged insults.
The focus on fighting Islamic militancy – and trying to cooperate more in the Middle East – has prompted calls for summits. Egypt is hosting a Nov. 22-23 Iraq summit with Arab and Western foreign ministers and others where security will be a key subject, and Saudi Arabia plans an international counterterrorism conference Feb. 5-8.
Iraq’s interim foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has urged his neighbors to start taking practical steps to keep foreign fighters from joining Iraq’s insurgency. Toward that end, Tehran agreed in July to host a meeting much touted at the time of senior security officials from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on border control with Iraq.
Such a meeting, given historical rivalries and conflicting political interests, would be unprecedented. But no dates have been set and there are doubts it will ever take place.
Non-Arab Iran is overwhelmingly Shiite, a stream of Islam considered illegitimate by the Sunni Wahhabis whose philosophy guides Saudi society as well as Islamic extremists.
Iran’s suspected interest in strengthening Iraq’s Shiite majority worries many. Gulf Arab countries also accuse Tehran of trying to stir unrest among Shiites outside Iran.
Sean Boyne, a writer for Jane’s Intelligence Review, said the level of cooperation among Arab countries is hard to judge, but Gulf Arab countries appear to be working more together, resolving some past border disputes in recent years and signing a Gulf Cooperation Council security pact, which has yet to be ratified.
U.S.-Arab priorities often overlap as well.
Al-Zarqawi is wanted by the Americans as well as the Jordanians. Bin Laden’s al-Qaida network orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks and also has long sought to topple the Saudi monarchy.
Bin Laden’s disdain for U.S. and Arab leaders was made clear again in a recent videotape in which he compared the Bush administration to repressive Arab regimes, “half of which are ruled by the military and the other half are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents.”
For the United States, anything to do with bin Laden, particularly al-Qaida-inspired militants such as those led by al-Zarqawi, are the priority. For Arab countries, it is anyone – Islamic or liberal – who could grow strong enough to threaten the leader or ruling family. Arabs also don’t consider Palestinians or Lebanese fighting Israel to be terrorists; Washington does.
“The (U.S.) administration looks at the war on terrorism from a very wide spectrum,” Noman, the Yemeni deputy minister said in Cairo. “Some (Arab) countries don’t see it the same way. … We have to admit that our concerns are different and that, in some cases, it’s regime survival.”