Monday 11 November 2002

Impotent Arab League puts on brave face

by Robert Fisk

That most tired of horses, the Arab League, would have us believe yesterday that Iraq had accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Naji Sabri, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, insisted the resolution had diluted Washington's desire for war. The Iraqi parliament, no less – only slightly less democratic than the Roman Senate during the reign of the Emperor Nero – was being summoned to vote on the UN resolution.

And if the people of Iraq decide UN inspectors should be allowed into their country, who would expect Saddam Hussein to reject their wish?

In reality, of course, the Arab League – the most powerless and impotent of all the animals in the Arab stable – has simply gone along with what looks best.

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