arab league 'salutes iraqis', page-4

An Arab League meeting, the first since the war began Thursday, put all the tensions and fears of the region on display, featuring short-tempered exchanges and barely disguised rudeness as Iraqi delegates and their supporters accused other members of acting against the wishes of their own people. "The Arab masses expect their governments to take a firm, historic position against aggression," said the Iraqi foreign minister, Naji Sabri. Not long before he spoke, Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassim ibn Jabr al Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, walked out of the meeting to fly home.
.
Al Thani dismissed the Arab League's persistent efforts to find common ground in the Iraqi crisis as a waste of time. "I don't think these meetings will stop the war," he said, "and I don't think these meetings will lead to the result the Arab street expects."
.
Qatar, which often takes a maverick position in Arab politics, is deeply engaged in the war effort as host to the coalition's Central Command for the attack on Iraq. The Arab League meeting called for a withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. As was decided at a previous meeting, the ministers also said that no Arab state should participate in the war.
.
The deep divisions in the 22-member organization seemed unlikely to be bridged by discussion or resolutions.

The deep divisions in the 22-member organization seemed unlikely to be bridged by discussion or resolutions.
.
Five member nations in the Gulf are providing facilities, bases, staging areas and support for the American and British forces attacking Iraq. More radical states, principally Syria, demand the expulsion of all foreign troops from the region.