CAIRO: An Arab call to deny Washington military assistance in any war on Iraq is a toothless gesture to mollify angry citizens keen to boot US forces out of the region, but won’t stop the US troop buildup, analysts say.

With tens of thousands of US troops already preparing for a possible war against Iraq in countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, the non-binding statement from Arab foreign ministers is unlikely to restrict US military options.

As long-time US allies who rely on Washington’s support and protection, many Arab states cannot afford to take the domestically popular step of kicking out American forces, and may have used this carefully-worded communique to show their disapproval and try to pacify their citizens this way instead.

“This is an attempt to absorb anger on the Arab street, no more, no less,” said Ahmad al-Badrawy, a Gulf-based analyst.

An Arab official said the communique was “a disclaimer which says: ‘We’ve told everyone, even those hosting US forces, please do not help them in any attack’. It’s vague, and there is no punishment for those who don’t listen.”

Aware of their limited leverage to influence both Washington and Baghdad in their showdown over Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, analysts said the statement was an attempt to convince critics at home and abroad that Arabs had done their bit to avoid war and bore no responsibility if they failed.

“They need to show they are playing an active role in international affairs and to be taken seriously,” said Daniel Neep, head of the Middle East programme at the Royal United Services Institute. “This...is a symbolic gesture, designed to alleviate domestic pressures.”

For now, it seemed to be business as usual in the region, despite the communique’s call for Arabs to “refrain from offering any kind of assistance or facilities for any military action” against Iraq.

In Qatar, which hosts the mobile US Central Command headquarters which would run any war against Iraq, US military planes thundered in and out of Doha airport as they have done since the buildup began for a possible invasion of Iraq.

There was also no news of policy changes in states like Kuwait, which expressed reservations about the communique and is expected to be the main launchpad of a land invasion of its former occupier, or Saudi Arabia, which was a key base during the 1991 Gulf War.—Reuters