Action limited to Afghanistan, says U.K.

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 9. Barely three days into the military operation and the future of the international coalition is already beginning to cause worry here in view of the reportedly growing unease in the Arab world, after the U.S., in a letter to the U.N., asserted its right to expand the war beyond Afghanistan.

This has heightened speculation that Iraq could be the next target of attack in an extended operation which might, at some stage, even include other Muslim countries suspected of sheltering terrorists. Amid anxiety that even the talk of such a scenario is likely to alienate the Arab world, where emotions are running high, the British Government sought to distance itself from the U.S. administration's loaded message to the U.N. The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jack Straw categorically stated that at this stage, Britain's consent was restricted to Afghanistan alone. He played down the U.S. move saying there were ``always statements coming out of Washington'' and declared that ``this military coalition is about action in respect of military and terrorist targets in Afghanistan''.

Mr. Straw's statement, after an E.U. Foreign Ministers' conference in Luxembourg, came as observers warned that the U.S. could lose support even in Europe, let alone the Muslim world, if it decided to take the war beyond the borders of Afghanistan. France and Germany, with their significant Muslim populations, would baulk at the idea of attacking Islamic countries without any direct proof of their involvement in the September 11 outrage in New York and Washington. As for the Arab world, it had already made clear that it would not be party to an attack on Iraq or other neighbours. A report in The Guardian said attacks on Syria, Iran or Libya - all accused of harbouring terrorists - would ``send the Middle East into convulsions''.

Britain was also at pains to stress that its forces were not involved in Monday's attacks which led to the death of four U.N. workers in Kabul. In what was seen as Britain's concern that civilian casualties so early in the war could have a damaging effect on world opinion, it was repeatedly stressed today that the operation which killed the four was an ``exclusively'' U.S. affair, as one T.V. channel put it. Experts called it extremely bad news and warned that any more such hiccups could cause rethinking among those of the coalition partners which had been reluctantly dragged into the war. Anti- war protesters here stepped up their campaign saying that the death of four innocent civilians had confirmed their worst fears. Protests demanding an end to the military action were held across Britain, the most high-profile being the one outside Parliament as it debated the crisis. Afghans were outraged by the relentless bombing of Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan. ``It has nothing to do with the political stance of one side or the other. This is our country and it is being bombed,'' a spokesman for the Society of Afghan Residents said.

Meanwhile, in a bid to counter the likely impact of Osama bin Laden's call for ``jehad'', Mr. Blair went on the same Qatar- based T.V. channel that had been used by Bin Laden, and denounced the fugitive terrorist's attempt to portray the U.S.- led operation as war on Islam. Mr. Blair, who apparently insisted on being given time on Al-Jazeera, said in a 30-minute interview that this was ``not about the West versus Islam''.

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Section  : International
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