Saudi refusal on bases may slow US campaign

Riyadh's refusal to allow the United States to use Saudi air bases as springboards for the expected air offensive against Afghanistan may have delayed and curtailed the scale of the campaign.

On Sunday an unnamed Saudi official said the US announcement that the air war would be conducted from the Prince Sultan base south of Riyadh constituted an "infringement on national sovereignty."

Saudi Arabia took a decision at the end of the 1991 Gulf war that strikes could be launched from its bases only for self-defence and in case of attack. The Saudis are reportedly concerned over the possibility that Arab states accused of harbouring terrorists - Iraq, Syria or Lebanon - could be targeted as well as Afghanistan.

Riyad favours a multilateral effort rather than a US-dominated campaign which would allow Saudi Arabia to influence the choice of targets and the scope of any intervention.

The Saudi government fears a popular backlash from citizens who oppose the stationing of US troops and weaponry on the holy soil of Arabia. The Saudi stance seems to have made both Bahrain and Kuwait jittery over US demands for their full co-operation in the expected offensive.

The Kuwaiti Defence Minister, Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah, said the US had not requested extra facilities and Bahrain denied reports that US warplanes have been flying into its bases. The Bahraini Foreign Minister, Mr Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar, said consultations were continuing. At the close of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the six nation Gulf Co-operation Council, its current president, Mr Abdul Ghafar, expressed the "willingness of members to participate in any joint action that has clearly defined objectives" and "enjoys the support of the international community".

Council members did not specify what role they would play in the effort. An United Arab Emirates (UAE) official said that the ministers had discussed the setting up of a "parallel alliance to press for a just and lasting solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict involving the emergence of an "independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital".

On Saturday the UAE severed diplomatic relations with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. Saudi Arabia could soon follow suit, leaving Pakistan as the only country recognising the Taliban as the legal government of the country.

The Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, has said that while his country had been the first to join the 1991 US-led coalition to drive Iraq out of Kuwait, he had not yet decided to participate in the anti-terrorism campaign.

Syria's President, Dr Bashar al-Assad called for the campaign to be placed under the auspices of the UN and Jordan's King Abdullah stated that it would be impossible for the Arabs to join if Iraq is targeted.

Mr Amr Mousa, the Arab League head, observed that the Arabs would join if action is "premised on evidence" which proves guilt "beyond reasonable doubt" and "is taken after proper consultation".

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia yesterday strongly condemned violence and terrorism as anti-Islamic acts opposed by the conservative oil-rich kingdom.

"The kingdom adheres and abides by the principles of God...and rejects all that contradicts Islamic sharia, foremost of which is violence, terrorising peaceful people and killing the innocent," he said.