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Some Arab States Call for Hussein to Step Down

Aired March 03, 2003 - 14:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Iraq's neighbors are banding together in hopes of preventing a possible war. CNN's Walter Rodgers standing by in Kuwait to tell us a little bit about their plan -- hello, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. What's happened here today, and what is important is that the six Gulf Cooperation Council ministers met in Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates floated a proposal supported by Kuwait and Bahrain that called on Saddam Hussein to step down over the course of the next two weeks to avert war.

This is significant, of course, because it is the first time that an Arab country has openly called for Saddam Hussein to step down.

Now, it was not overwhelmingly approved, but it was viewed as positive by all the members of the cooperation council. Still others, Oman and Qatar in particular, thought that perhaps there should be more talk about this proposal calling on Saddam to step down.

The next venue for talk will be Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference. Then there will be an opportunity to discuss this proposal, which, in addition to calling for Saddam to step down in the course of the next two weeks, would propose that both the United Nations and the Arab League maintain a kind of governance over Iraq in the absence of Saddam. Now, there was equivocation on all of this. Note what the foreign minister of Qatar had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMAD BIN JASEM AL THANI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER: ... discussing this theory because it's a very important initiative, and we think it need to be discussed further through -- in the Arab League, and this is what we reflect in our communique. And we think it's very important to be discussed, and to see what we can tell to avoid any military action in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Now, the United Arab Emirates first floated this proposal calling on Saddam to step down on Saturday at the Arab League conference at Sharm-El-Sheik. It got short shrift there. One of the reasons, of course, is that the Arabs are traditionally very conservative states, and this would set a fearful precedence for other Arab countries, that is to say one group of Arab countries ganging up on another, in this case, Saddam Hussein, calling him -- on him to step aside.

Recall that in the 1960s, '70s, even into the '80s, Arab leaders were trying to bump each other off, and there was a period after that where the Arab leaders decided this wasn't such a good idea. That's why we're seeing the caution at this point about a mass movement on the part of the Arab states to call on Saddam to get out of his office -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, Walter, in the Arab world, they know Saddam Hussein as well as anybody. Surely there is a sense of resignation there as well that any attempt to get him to slip into exile would be futile.

RODGERS: Well, yes. They say there is a slim chance that he would do it, but the end game in all of these Arab countries is to avert war. I think privately, although many of the Arab countries in this part of the world -- particularly the Gulf -- aren't going to say so openly. Privately, they would like to see Saddam go and go very, very quickly. But they're waiting for the United States to commit itself, and there would be no equivocation on the American position here. They want the U.S. to strike very, very quickly. So they are still hanging back. Again, the conservative Arab tradition, waiting for the United States to take the action -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Walter Rodgers, Kuwait City. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 3, 2003 - 14:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Iraq's neighbors are banding together in hopes of preventing a possible war. CNN's Walter Rodgers standing by in Kuwait to tell us a little bit about their plan -- hello, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. What's happened here today, and what is important is that the six Gulf Cooperation Council ministers met in Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates floated a proposal supported by Kuwait and Bahrain that called on Saddam Hussein to step down over the course of the next two weeks to avert war.

This is significant, of course, because it is the first time that an Arab country has openly called for Saddam Hussein to step down.

Now, it was not overwhelmingly approved, but it was viewed as positive by all the members of the cooperation council. Still others, Oman and Qatar in particular, thought that perhaps there should be more talk about this proposal calling on Saddam to step down.

The next venue for talk will be Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference. Then there will be an opportunity to discuss this proposal, which, in addition to calling for Saddam to step down in the course of the next two weeks, would propose that both the United Nations and the Arab League maintain a kind of governance over Iraq in the absence of Saddam. Now, there was equivocation on all of this. Note what the foreign minister of Qatar had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMAD BIN JASEM AL THANI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER: ... discussing this theory because it's a very important initiative, and we think it need to be discussed further through -- in the Arab League, and this is what we reflect in our communique. And we think it's very important to be discussed, and to see what we can tell to avoid any military action in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Now, the United Arab Emirates first floated this proposal calling on Saddam to step down on Saturday at the Arab League conference at Sharm-El-Sheik. It got short shrift there. One of the reasons, of course, is that the Arabs are traditionally very conservative states, and this would set a fearful precedence for other Arab countries, that is to say one group of Arab countries ganging up on another, in this case, Saddam Hussein, calling him -- on him to step aside.

Recall that in the 1960s, '70s, even into the '80s, Arab leaders were trying to bump each other off, and there was a period after that where the Arab leaders decided this wasn't such a good idea. That's why we're seeing the caution at this point about a mass movement on the part of the Arab states to call on Saddam to get out of his office -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, Walter, in the Arab world, they know Saddam Hussein as well as anybody. Surely there is a sense of resignation there as well that any attempt to get him to slip into exile would be futile.

RODGERS: Well, yes. They say there is a slim chance that he would do it, but the end game in all of these Arab countries is to avert war. I think privately, although many of the Arab countries in this part of the world -- particularly the Gulf -- aren't going to say so openly. Privately, they would like to see Saddam go and go very, very quickly. But they're waiting for the United States to commit itself, and there would be no equivocation on the American position here. They want the U.S. to strike very, very quickly. So they are still hanging back. Again, the conservative Arab tradition, waiting for the United States to take the action -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Walter Rodgers, Kuwait City. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com