CAIRO Ñ Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ruled out any Arab participation in a U.S.-led military coalition against Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

Mubarak's assertion came as Arab allies of the United States are said to have withheld operational support for any U.S. attack in the Middle East or Afghanistan.

In an interview that appeared in the Paris-based Le Figaro daily, Mubarak said a U.S. attack on Afghanistan or any other state would merely kill innocent people. He said Arab League does not allow any of its members to join a military coalition except in self-defense or to help each other.

In London, the Sunday Times newspaper said British forces are in northern Afghanistan searching for Bin Laden. The newspaper said that U.S. troops are on the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

The Egyptian president said he has not seen any evidence that Bin Laden was responsible for the suicide attack on New York and Washington on Sept. 11. He said any country that joins a U.S.-led coalition would be a target for terrorist attacks.

"Back in 1995, when the fundamentalists tried to assassinate me in Addis Ababa, my initial response was anger, and, as a military man, my response was expected to involve the use of force," Mubarak said. "But I quickly realized that killing innocent people was the worst solution. Instead, I opted for investigations until the perpetrators were found."

The president said Egypt supplied Washington with intelligence information on Bin Laden. But he acknowledged that the attacks earlier this month were not expected.

Arab League secretary-general Amr Mussa said Arab countries cannot join a coalition with Israel as a participant. Mussa said that so far no Arab country has been offered to join a U.S.-led alliance.

"From my own point of view, no Arab army should attack Afghanistan under any circumstances," Mussa said.

On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates announced it was severing relations with Afghan's ruling Taliban movement, which has been harboring Bin Laden. Saudi Arabia has yet to cut such relations. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the only countries to have recognized Taliban.

Riyad has also refused to allow U.S. warplanes to use a Saudi air base for any attack on Bin Laden. A group believed to be linked to Bin Laden warned of retaliation against any Gulf Arab state that supports Washington.

The group's warning was broadcast by the Doha-based Al Jazeera satellite television.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts