[New York Times] Helene Cooper and David S. Cloud - Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates on Tuesday coupled their military assistance package for Arab allies with a public request for Arab leaders to do more to back the Shiite-led government in Iraq. The Bush team has gotten a little less than hoped for, particularly given the size of the military and aid package announced Monday. In addition to the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the gathering at Sharm El-Sheikh included Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The group issued a statement supporting a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, but made no promises that Saudi Arabia, or indeed any of the Persian Gulf countries, would attend an international conference that President Bush has proposed for this fall. American officials have said privately that they want Arab countries to confront Iran more robustly.
2007-08-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive