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| International |
| Several other Arab countries could be targeted |
| 2001-09-20 |
Though Afghanistan is now in the cross-hairs, several Arab countries risk becoming targets in the US-led war on terrorism, analysts said Thursday. Iraq, Somalia, Sudan as well as Libya and Syria could face diplomatic and financial pressure or even military action sometime in the next five years, once the United States completes the first phase of its campaign, experts say. The message from Afghanistan will be to cooperate with the United States and its allies or face the consequences, according to Charles Heyman, a former British Army major who is now an editor of Jane's World Armies. "If you harbor international terrorists, you are in the firing line," Heyman told AFP when contacted by telephone in Shrewsbury, England. While he said Afghanistan was "definitely phase one" of a five-year campaign, phase two would include Sudan, Somalia and Iraq, as well as possibly Libya and Syria, Heyman said. These countries are all members of the 22-member Arab League, and have been accused by the United States of being state sponsors of terrorism or linked to Islamic militant groups in the past. Sudan, backed by other Arab countries, has requested an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss last week's attacks on New York and Washington, Arab officials said here Thursday. The other Arab countries were not named and there were no details about the agenda of the meeting, which has still to receive the green light. Sudan has repeatedly denounced terrorism since last week's attacks in the United States in an apparent bid to diminish any chances Washington might target Sudan anew in retaliation for anti-US attacks. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |