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How Sad and Tragic that the misnomered "Arab leaders" are so fond of rhetoric and so miserably lacking when it comes to both credibility and action:<br>---------------------------------------<br><br><br>Arab League Warns of Catastrophe and the "Gates of Hell"<br><br>When the Arab Foreign Ministers met in Cairo on 4 and 5 September the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa warned that an American war on Iraq would "open the gates of hell" for the entire region. In a joint closing statement the Arab foreign ministers stated that the Arab states "categorically reject any threat of attack against any Arab country, particularly Iraq, and believe such threats are directed against the security of all Arab countries" At the time the Arab foreign ministers were calling for the return of arms inspectors to Iraq in order to avert a U.S. strike.. In an oblique reference to Israel the foreign ministers statement continued to urge Iraq to "pursue the dialogue with the United Nations in order to attain a comprehensive solution which wuold guarantee the simultaneous application of all Security Concil resolutions."<br><br>The Arab League then authorized the Secretary-General to appeal to the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan "to urge them to fullfill their legal responsibilities in line with the UN Charter and to prevetn any attack. AT the same time the statement demanded that UN "sanctions imposed on Iraq be lifed" and that "there be an end to the suffering of its people, which would guarantee stability and security in the region.<br><br>Moussa himself warned at a press conference of catastrophe for the region and stated "We will continue to work to avoid amilitary confrontation or a military action, because we beliee tht it will open the gates of hell in the Middle East."<br><br>"Everyone in the Middle East is angry and frustrated with what is happening in the occupied Palestininian terrotiroes. Therefore a strike against Iraq, I beliefve, will lead to serious repercussions in the Middle East and beyond.<br><br><br> <b on></b> <b on></b>
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