| Yesterday the West was reminded of its energy dependence on the Muslim world. At an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, the Iraqi delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, called for the weapon of the Islamic world, oil, to be used against Israel and those who support it (read: the United States). The day before, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein made the same call, and yesterday he was joined by his sworn enemy, Tehran, which is also ready to teach the Americans a lesson. Muslims (more than a billion people - a sixth of the world's population) resolutely stood up for the Palestinians. Responding to American reproaches against Yasser Arafat, the Malaysian summit demanded that the “struggle of the Palestinians” for “the creation of their own state with its capital in Jerusalem” not be equated with terrorism.
The demarche of the two “pariah” countries was apparently provoked by Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, who the day before accused Iran, Iraq and Syria of “inspiring and financing a culture of political assassinations and suicide bombers.” The US Secretary of Defense actually drew a parallel between Israel's actions and Washington's reaction to the September 11 attacks. That parallel that the Israeli authorities have been trying to achieve in vain for the last six months. Until now, the US has refused to equate intifada fighters with al-Qaeda militants, but now the White House's view appears to have changed.
The specter of the “oil embargo” that shocked the world in 1973, when the Arabs punished the West for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War, looms again on the horizon. Of course, there is no reason yet to talk about a complete boycott: Baghdad and Tehran are not the whole of OPEC. Indeed, about 10% of the fuel entering the American market today is of Iraqi origin, but the cessation of these supplies could be covered by the US ally Saudi Arabia. Moreover, since 1973, when the oil embargo took developed countries by surprise, Americans have carefully prepared for surprises by creating reserves and developing alternative fuels. And OPEC yesterday officially rejected the proposals of Baghdad and Tehran.
This, however, does not negate the fact that the Arab world’s irritation with the actions of Washington, which dictates everyone’s line of behavior, is growing. In the capital of Qatar, from where our correspondent returned, rumors are actively circulating that the Yankees feel uncomfortable with the Saudis. Soon they will allegedly have to move the Prince Sultan air base from Saudi Arabia to neighboring Qatar, where about five thousand Americans are already sitting at the southern Udeid base. However, little Qatar is unlikely to be happy with such a gift: the local population already reacts with distrust to the Western-style reforms being carried out in the country. It would be strange if Qatar, which now plays a major role in the settlement between Iraq and Kuwait, allowed the United States to launch air strikes on Baghdad from its territory, which even Riyadh objects to.
Pro-American Muslim governments are forced to react to the sentiments of their streets and turn their backs on the Americans. After ten years of “new thinking”, when it seemed that a new era was dawning as the Palestinian-Israeli settlement in the Middle East progressed, everything is returning to its original positions. Again the intifada, again Israeli tanks in Ramallah and Bethlehem, again a related confrontation in the international arena. The only thing missing is the Soviet Union, which is now especially bitterly regretted in the Arab world. It is no coincidence that yesterday, at a meeting with the Russian delegation that arrived in Baghdad to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the USSR and Iraq, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz called on Russia to lead an international coalition to prevent US aggression against this country.
However, even if there were people in Moscow who wanted to occupy the empty niche of the USSR, this still would not have happened - Moscow does not have the resources, not only to resist the United States, but even to somehow influence the situation. But no matter how cynical it sounds, the Middle East confrontation with Russia is beneficial. Oil prices, which had already exceeded $26 per barrel, rose on average by another half a dollar, to the delight of our exporters. But this is a short-term effect. The long-term problem is that Western countries will have to think very seriously about their energy security. And if until now the main “raw materials appendage” of the developed world was the rich Arab regimes, now Russia has a chance to seize this role. In this situation, it is very honorable and promising. Elena SUPONINA, Fyodor LUKYANOV
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