Muslim ties hinder NATO quest for new chief

Brussels, NU Online
As NATO officials are wrestling with the decision to elect a new chief, concerns over the alliance's image in the Muslim world are hampering NATO's quest for the right candidate.

"NATO as a whole should think about their image in the Muslim world," a senior Turkish diplomat told Reuters late Wednesday, April 1.<>

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a favorite to succeed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in August.

Another contender is Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, but European allies insist an official from a former Warsaw Pact country is not best placed to heal tensions between NATO and former Cold War foe Russia.

Though Rasmussen is backed by the alliance's big powers, concerns over relations with Muslim countries are throwing a monkey wrench in his bid for the NATO's top post.

In 2005, Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily printed cartoons satirizing Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), sparking furor in the Muslim world.

Rasmussen refused to meet the ambassadors of several Muslim countries to discuss the crisis, defending the blasphemous drawings as freedom of expression.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week Rasmussen would be unwelcome over the cartoon crisis and Denmark's failure to ban a television station Ankara says is linked to Kurdish rebels.

Erdogan said he had received calls from the leaders of Islamic countries urging Turkey, NATO's only predominantly Muslim member, to veto Rasmussen.

NATO leaders will meet in Strasbourg, France, and neighboring Kehl, Germany, on April 3-4 for a 60th anniversary summit, but it is not yet unclear whether the next secretary general of the 26-nation alliance will be announced there.

Dilemma

NATO officials are worried that Rasmussen's election would sink the alliance's relations with Muslim countries into abyss.

"There are concerns in NATO that as secretary-general Rasmussen would face fierce protests when he visited Muslim countries," a NATO diplomat said.

The concerns over Rasmussen are particularly acute given NATO's effort to lure ordinary Muslims in Afghanistan to back its war against the Taliban.

"Afghanistan is not a member of NATO. It is the members' own business," Afghan President Hamid Karzai told reporters when asked whether Kabul would like to see Rasmussen at the NATO helm.

"We will welcome the decision that all the members of NATO, including Turkey, will reach."

NATO officials are now struggling to reach a compromise.

"There is no decision for now," a NATO envoy said before the meeting hosted by France and Germany in the Rhineland.

"I believe there is a 50-50 chance a new Sec-Gen will be elected."

Though Polish Prime Minister Sikorski has the support of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, his chances are seen as slim.

While he went as far this week as suggesting that Russia could one day be a NATO member, his country's awkward ties with Moscow and its willingness to host a US missile shield system are seen as deal-breakers.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere is seen as a compromise choice but is handicapped as Norway is not a member of the EU. (dar)