U.S. Election Result Will Determine Nature of Conference on Iraq

[Gloria]

From New World Media Watch up now at URL below in sig,
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


1//The Daily Star, Lebanon Monday, November 01, 2004

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=9761



U.S. ELECTION RESULT WILL DETERMINE NATURE OF CONFERENCE ON IRAQ

Vote outcome likely to radically affect expectations

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

CAIRO: Uncertainty hovered over the Iraq conference set to take place in Egypt next month, as commentators warned that the result of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election was likely to radically affect expectations for the gathering, which is crucial to Iraq's future.



"We will hold a completely different conference depending on whether George W. Bush remains in power," one European diplomat said Sunday in Cairo.



The conference has been set for Nov. 22-23 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to lay out the final steps toward free elections in Iraq, but Washington had initially wanted the gathering to precede the Nov. 2 vote.



After weeks of bitter sparring between the incumbent and his Democrat rival, John Kerry, on the best course of action in Iraq, the real purpose of the conference seems up in the air.



Egyptian analysts were split on the likely impact of one or the other's victory, with some assuring that Bush would use a re-election to forge ahead with his policies, while others argued he could soften his stance.

MORE