Obviously, Saddam will not help the Arab parties out of their present predicament. He is more likely to help Clinton achieve his objective of aggravating inter-Arab contradictions. Actually, the criterion for a successful Arab response is not only the ability to convene an Arab summit that would dissipate inter-Arab conflict, but also to devise a common Arab strategy that would neither confirm Saddam s accusation that the Arab parties have abandoned the cause of the Iraqi people, nor help Washington make the Iraqi people pay for Saddam s misconduct. Already they were chattering endlessly in their homes before the advent of wireless telephony. Now, price competition from different providers means more and more of them will soon be able to babble away to their heart s content on their very own mobile.
Cellular phones are the latest rage.
Increasing number of people are to be seen in public with a handset men and women, young and old, walking or, especially, driving. The country s two competing mobile phone operators now share around 200,000 individual subscribers. At the beginning of last year there were only 80,000, which shows the enormous potential for growth in this service and their hunger of customers. MobiNil alone boasts some 160,000 subscribers. The second private company, Click GSM, began offering its services on 30 November 1998, and within a couple of weeks had managed to round up some 40,000 subscribers.