EU Says Arab Summit Moved Up from End-March

04/02/2003| IslamWeb

The Arab League has brought forward its annual summit to late February or early March, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said Tuesday, after calls to hold it soon due to the threat of a U.S.-led war on Iraq. The summit had been scheduled for late March in Bahrain. Papandreou, whose country now holds the European Union  presidency and said the bloc could join a possible Arab peace mission to Baghdad, was speaking after talks with officials in Lebanon, which now holds the Arab League summit presidency.

"There will be an Arab League foreign ministers meeting on February 15 and there will be an Arab League summit at the end of the month (February) or early March," Papandreou told reporters after meeting Lebanon's president.

Arab League head Amr Moussa, in Lebanon at the weekend to explore holding the summit early, said Arabs must meet as soon as possible over the threat of a U.S.-led war to disarm Baghdad, which Washington accuses of having weapons of mass destruction.

Key Developments Concerning Iraq

Developments in the Iraq crisis:

_ Iraqi security agents have bugged every room and telephone of the U.N. weapons inspectors based in Baghdad and have hidden documents in Iraqi hospitals, mosques and homes, a new British report said.

_ Iraq may consider enlisting foreigners as witnesses for Iraqi weapons scientists who refuse to submit to secret U.N. interviews, Iraqi presidential adviser Amir al-Saadi said. Weapons inspectors have said they believe scientists are intimidated by the presence of Iraqi officials during questioning.

_ Photographs of mobile biological weapons installations and transcripts of overheard conversations among Iraqi officials are part of the evidence Secretary of State Colin Powell  will present to convince allies that Saddam Hussein is defying the United Nations , an administration official said.

_ British Prime Minister Tony Blair  said Saddam's time is running out. "Eight weeks have now passed since Saddam was given his final chance," he told the House of Commons. "The evidence of cooperation withheld is unmistakable."

_ Blair hoped to persuade French President Jacques Chirac to support a second Security Council resolution seen as the go-ahead for use of force against Iraq. They meet Tuesday.

_ A third U.S. Navy  aircraft carrier reached striking distance of Iraq, joining the USS Constellation and the USS Harry S. Truman, and a fourth will head there soon, defense officials said.

_ The U.S. Army started training a group of Iraqis opposed to Saddam for support roles in the event of war.

_ Iraq plans to keep producing and exporting oil if the United States wages war, Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Hussein al-Hudaithi told The Associated Press.

PHOTO CAPTION

European leaders face pressure not to support a w