US Secretary of State Collin Powell on Monday ruled out Israeli participation in any military action carried out as a result of the terror attacks in the United States.
The US administration is mulling a military response against Afghanistan should his Taliban hosts not turn over bin Laden, named by Washington as the prime suspect in a series of terrorist attacks against the United States and US interests including the devastating September 11 strikes in New York and Washington.
Haaretz newspaper quoted Powell as telling Al Jazeera satellite TV channel that there were "many states which could help on the intelligence front and in rooting out terror."
But he said that if the US and other countries undertook military action, Israel would "not be part of this action.”
Meanwhile, AFP said that foreign leaders were to start arriving in Washington Tuesday for a flurry of talks on US efforts to mount a global anti-terrorism campaign aimed initially at bin Laden and his Al Qaed network.
Powell said the coalition was "coming together" ahead of the arrival Tuesday of President Jacques Chirac, who was to meet US President George W. Bush.
Top US officials are also set to meet in the coming days their counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union, South Korea, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as they press traditional friends, allies and rivals for support.
In addition, Washington will look to Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - for help in the new war on terrorists sparked by the devastating September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
AFP said that Powell on Monday spoke by telephone with UN chief Kofi Annan and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss the coalition, and said Saleh had told him that he and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who is now in Sanaa, would issue a joint statement condemning the strikes and pledging their help.
The backing of both countries is of particular interest to Washington, as the State Department lists Syria as a "state sponsor of terrorism" for support of anti-Israel activities, and Yemen was the site of last year's suicide attack on a US warship, the USS Cole, which is also blamed on bin Laden.
"I am pleased that the coalition is coming together," Powell told reporters Tuesday.
"I think everybody recognizes that this challenge is one that went far beyond America."
The coalition "will be conducting a campaign that will have many parts to it: legal, political, diplomatic, law enforcement, intelligence collection and military as appropriate," Powell said.
In earlier remarks, Powell said that the United States bore no ill will toward the people of Afghanistan, but would punish the country's ruling Taliban militia unless it expelled its guest, suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
"The Taliban, of course, is responding in the way that it always has, that Osama bin Laden and his associates are guests in their country," Powell said.
"Well, it's time for the guests to leave." - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
