ARAB AFFAIRS - March 13 - Syria & Lebanon Block Peace Mission to Baghdad.

Syria and Lebanon postpone a peace mission to Baghdad, saying they are concerned that the delegation, made up of the foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon, and the secretary general of the Arab League, might ask Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein to go into exile. Baghdad backed the delay, citing "recent developments in Iraq". (The delegation was due to leave for Bahrain on March 13 for talks with King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa before heading to Baghdad on March 14. Among the members of the delegation only Bahrain, a GCC member and host to the US navy's 5th fleet, has publicly backed a Saudi-inspired initiative calling on Saddam to stand down. Both Lebanon and Syria have opposed the exile proposal put forward by the UAE and backed by other GCC states. Egypt too has been cool to the idea. The Arab League has strongly denied that pressure to relinquish power would be on the agenda of its meetings in Iraq. But Baghdad was alarmed by a front-page report in the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat newspaper earlier this week, claiming that permanent members of the UN Security Council, including some opposed to war, wanted the Arabs to step up the pressure on Saddam to give up power. On March 10, Arab League officials suggested that Baghdad would be asked to respond to the main disarmament tasks laid out by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix. But on March 12, the UK proposed its own set of benchmarks to be met if Baghdad was to escape war - see Iraq). Analysts say the trip's postponement may signal the end of the Arab World's attempt to formulate a unified position ahead of the US-led war against Baghdad. Saddam has already said he would prefer to die in Iraq rather than accept exile outside his country.