A flurry of diplomatic activity by the European Community is expected to follow an extraordinary meeting of the 12 E.C. foreign ministers that took place here Friday to discuss the Persian Gulf crisis.
While they reaffirmed their unreserved condemnation of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the European ministers made clear they want to avoid at all costs the impression they are launching an “anti-Arab” crusade.
There was talk of a “gesture” to King Hussein of Jordan, possibly in the form of economic aid, since the Hashemite monarch is especially vulnerable to Iraqi pressure.
Three E.C. foreign ministers will in fact visit Jordan and Egypt in the next week to discuss the Persian Gulf situation.
They might also confer with officials of the Arab League and of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, which consists of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The trip was announced by Foreign Minister Gianni de Michelis of Italy, current chairman of the E.C. Council of Ministers.
He will be accompanied by the foreign ministers of Ireland and Luxembourg, who are respectively the immediate past chairman and the next chairman of the Council of Ministers.
The office is rotated every six months and the incumbent and his successor and predecessor constitute the E.C.’s so-called “troika” dealing exclusively with Middle East problems.
The suggestion of a “specific gesture” toward Jordan was raised by the West German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher. He noted that King Hussein, who is not related to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, “is in a difficult position”
CONCERN ABOUT LOSING ARAB CONFIDENCE
Genscher thought economic aid would be helpful, because Jordan, which is not an oil producer, is heavily dependent on financial assistance from the Gulf states and had maintained especially close relations with Iraq.
“The 12 E.C. countries agreed to avoid transforming European firmness (against Iraqi aggression) into a new anti-Arab crusade,” an E.C. official said.
“We must avoid losing the Arab world’s confidence,” stressed Foreign Minister De Michelis.
“We must take into account three factors: Arab nationalism, economic and social difficulties, and fundamentalism.”
The foreign ministers’ meeting issued a statement saying they decided “to maintain close contact with the Arab governments and to offer their assistance to Arab efforts aimed at defusing tensions and restoring international legality within the framework of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
The meeting of E.C. foreign ministers coincided with the Arab League summit meeting Friday in Cairo, where a majority of the member states agreed to support Western measures against Iraq.
Egypt and Morocco are sending token military forces to Saudi Arabia, where the United States is massing sea, air and ground forces to protect the Saudi kingdom.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
