Arab League Calls for US Restraint After Raids on Afghanistan

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa Monday here urged the United States to keep restraint and not widen the confrontation in the wake of the U.S.-British overnight military strikes on Afghanistan.

"I call for restraint and not widening of the confrontation, as well as no harm to any Arab country," Moussa told reporters after his talks with visiting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Arafat arrived in Cairo earlier in the day for discussions with Egyptian leader over the latest developments in the Middle East.

"No Arab country can accept international terrorism," Moussa said in his first reaction to the U.S.-British attacks against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime and Osama bin Laden, who was accused of masterminding the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Moussa stated that Arab countries support the U.S. in its efforts to combat terrorism, but have reservations about military operations against countries suspected of backing terrorism, such as Afghanistan.

The U.S. and Britain launched military raids against Afghanistan Sunday night, in which major Afghan cities, including the capital of Kabul, Taliban's stronghold Kandahar and Jalalabad bordering Pakistan, were under attack.






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