Arabic/Nat Diplomatic moves have continued throughout the Middle East as the U-N Iraq standoff approaches its twentieth day. In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak talked with Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The Kuwaiti Minister later denounced any U-S military force against Iraq, but said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should comply with the Security Council's resolutions. In Jordan, the hardline Islamic Action Front supported Iraq in calls to attack American interests in the Middle East if the U-S attacked Iraq. The meeting between the foreign ministers of Kuwait and Egypt took place in Cairo. The victim of 1990 in talks with the most powerful Arab state. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah arrived on Saturday for consultations with senior Egyptian leaders on the standoff ahead of a similar visit by Iraq's deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah said his country does not support military action against Iraq over the latest standoff with the United Nations. But be also said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should comply with the Security Council's resolutions. The Kuwaiti Cabinet issued a statement on Sunday urging a diplomatic solution to the problem "so that Iraqi people would not be subjected to more misery and suffering". Al-Sabah said he delivered a message from Kuwait's emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, to Mubarak on the crisis. Later he will travel to Damascus to deliver a similar message to Syria's President Hafez Assad. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) "We don't agree with any military action against Iraq, but first of all we wonder who is responsible for the start of this conflict. If any military action took place in Iraq it will have a negative effect on the Iraqi people and their neighbours, therefore we hope to reach a solution and implement the Security Council resolutions and watch it from an objective point of view to avoid any military action." SUPER CAPTION: Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, Kuwait Foreign Minister Egypt was a key partner in the US-led international coalition that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, and it still has no diplomatic relations with Baghdad. But recently it signed contracts to sell food to Iraq under the oil-for-food programme. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) "President Arafat expressed to Mubarak, his opinion of the American role and US Secretary of State Secretary Madeleine Albright's statement against Iraq, and he is still pessimistic about this situation." SUPER CAPTION: Amr Moussa, Egyptian Foreign Minister In Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, has spoken out against American involvement in the Middle East. The political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood Movement, the organisation is part of a coalition of nine Jordanian opposition parties, which include pan-Arab nationalists. Members of the Islamic Front regard the U-S policy in the Middle East as biased towards Israel and aimed at controlling Arab oil wealth. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) "Iraqi-Arab efforts are to defend the Arab land and the Arab interests with all possible means. America is using weapons of mass destruction against Iraq. We are still just talking about mere statements. I agree with the call of the Iraqi press yesterday for the importance of repulsing the American aggression." SUPER CAPTION: Salem Nahas, Islamic Action Front Most Arab countries have expressed opposition to using military force against Iraq. Syrian Defence Minister Mustafa Tlas - whose government joined the anti-Iraq coalition in the Gulf War - spoke out against using force in an interview published Sunday in the Arabic daily Al-Hayat. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c346c15ddb1e4639d5c27b5571cf8b46 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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