عندما يلتقي "الشيطان الأعظم" مع "محور الشر"

بقلم: دافيد بلير – المراسل الدبلوماسي في شرم الشيخ

دايلي تيليغراف - 4/5/2007

When the 'Great Satan' met the 'Axis of Evil'

By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent in Sharm el-Sheikh

Last Updated: 3:17am BST 04/05/2007

The "Great Satan" and the "Axis of Evil" greeted one another over lunch but refrained from shaking hands or exchanging anything more than pleasantries.

Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, and her Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, had a chance encounter yesterday which symbolised the state of relations between their two countries.

Both had signalled their willingness to meet at a summit on Iraq 's future in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

This would have been the first formal contact between the two countries at foreign minister level since diplomatic ties were severed almost 28 years ago when an Iranian mob held 66 US diplomats hostage in the Teheran embassy.

Instead, Miss Rice and Mr Mottaki found themselves seated near to each other during a lunch break in the Egyptian conference centre.

Given that President George W Bush has branded Iran a pillar of the "Axis of Evil" - retaliating for years of Iranian abuse on the theme of America as the "Great Satan" - this might have been an awkward moment.

But Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, saw the pair exchange some "welcoming remarks". Like the countries they represent, they were unable to avoid one another and also unable or unwilling to bridge the gulf between them. Mr Zebari, who has been playing a mediating role between the two sides, said: "I believe that an in-depth, bilateral meeting between the two here is not a high possibility."

But he laid out the key reason why America and Iran both have an interest in dialogue.

Iraq 's chaos is developing into a foreign policy catastrophe for Miss Rice and a significant headache for Iran . Teheran is willing to stir the violence by arming Shia militias - but still fears the consequences of anarchy on its western border.

Mr Zebari predicted that Miss Rice and Mr Mottaki would meet in the weeks ahead. "The tension is too high. Everybody has pushed the envelope to the limit. That is why there is an impetus to look at some regional, collective action to stabilise the situation," he said.

The minefield is not only diplomatic but cultural. Miss Rice and Mr Mottaki will never shake hands because pious Iranian males will not have physical contact with any woman to whom they are not married or closely related.

Yesterday, they exchanged slight bows, Miss Rice elegant in her pearl necklace and navy trouser suit, Mr Mottaki in a shapeless grey jacket.

The Egyptian hosts might have been expected to place the two ministers at the same table for dinner and allow things to take their course. But pious Iranian males are teetotal and would not consider dining at a table where wine might be available.

For the Americans, the key barrier to any meeting is Iran's insistence on continuing its nuclear programme.

But Miss Rice did meet Syria 's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, in the first encounter between the countries at this level for two years. US officials say the country has begun stemming the flow of fighters crossing the border into Iraq .

Iraq also appealed to its neighbours to cancel its debts "to enable it to start reconstruction", said Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister. Iraq owes Saudi Arabia , the biggest creditor, £8.5 billion but the kingdom has quietly agreed to cancel 80 per cent of this sum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/04/wsharm04.xml

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نشرنا لهذه المقالات لا يعني أنها تعبر عن وجهة نظر المركز كلياً أو جزئياً

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من حق الزائر الكريم أن ينقل وأن ينشر كل ما يعجبه من موقعنا . معزواً إلينا ، أو غير معزو .ـ