Protesters across the Middle East, angry at the Israels offensive against the Palestinians, have not just been carrying posters of their leaders and shouting pro-Palestinian slogans in their rallies, but have also been displaying photos of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

This makes the demonstrations, by hundreds of thousands of people from Sudan and Morocco to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, significantly different in a region where people often show extreme public loyalty to their leaders.

It also shows the stark contrast between the reactions in the streets and Arab governments largely non-committal political responses, at a time when Israel is bearing down on the Palestinians like never before in recent history.

Despite their possession of a weapon that strikes fear in the West  oil  the Arab worlds action in the economic sphere was limited to financial aid to the Palestinians and the National Authority, until Iraq announced on April 8 a one-month suspension of oil exports to the United States.

In floating the idea of an oil embargo and seeking united action with other countries, Baghdad argued that the oil weapon is the only way to thwart the American gang of evil.

By doing so, it pushed Egypts response to the latest Israeli offensive against Palestinians  the downgrading of diplomatic ties with Israel  to insignificance.

Tough tactics

As a reaction to Saddam Husseins announcement and to the Israel militarys three-week offensive in the occupied territories, protesters took to the streets in many parts of the Arab world, accusing the United States of contributing to Israels tough tactics.

Arab oil belongs to the Arabs, read some of the banners marchers in Baghdad carried recently.

We urge the Arab masses to put pressure on their governments to rallyto the Iraqi decision and deprive the American of oil deliveries, said a statement by the Iraqi parliaments International Relations Committee last week.

Taking cue from Saddam Hussein, Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged countries neighbouring Israel to let his troops in to fight alongside Palestinians. The next battle will be decisive when the borders are open before the mujahidin and the Arab fighter to support their Palestinian brethren, he told a rally of tens of thousands in Sanaa on April 11.

Saddams tactics also put pressure on the governments of Yemen and Syria, where people marched to the Egyptian embassies demanding that Cairo sever ties with Israel.

The Iraqi media followed up the oil embargo with strident demands for all oil-producing countries to stop crude exports.

The enemies of the (Arab) nation only understand the language of concrete actions that have a direct impact on their interests, said the Ath Thawra newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling Baath Party in Baghdad.

On April 10, Saddams son Uday said, All Iraqis, led by Saddams fedayin (fighters), are ready to join the fight against the (Israeli) forces of occupation.

Ploy to ensure Arab support

Already, Saddam Hussein has announced that 6.5 million Iraqis have been mobilised to liberate Palestine, with Uday commanding the fedayin volunteer force set up in 1994 to defend Iraq against external threats.

Saddam Husseins decision could be construed by some as a ploy to ensure popular Arab support for his regimes survival and whip up anti-US and anti-Israel sentiments, not least when Washington and London have been talking about taking action against Iraq under what they call their war against terrorism.

But this is not the first time Baghdad has tried to show action on the Palestinian cause, although they are often seen as political gambits.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saddam at one point said he would withdraw voluntarily if Israel pulled back from the Palestinian territories.

The Baath-led government has also been regularly contributing a share of its revenue from the UN-sponsored oil-for-food programme to the Palestinian struggle, apart from rewards of US$25,000 for everysuicide bomber striking against the Israelis.

The signs from the United States and Britain that a strike against Baghdad is not imminent for at least a year, after a recent meeting between US President George W Bush and British premier Tony Blair, was enough for Saddam to activate his propaganda machinery to maximise the sympathy and praise of the Arab masses.

Chance has delivered Saddam Hussein a powerful weapon, and it is easy to see how he might use it: to end sanctions (on Iraqs terms), roll back the no-fly zones, and get out of paying several hundred billion dollars in Gulf war compensation.

The Iraqis are trying to bargain with the United Nations and oil companies to keep oil production going in exchange for a pledge to remove sanctions, a Kuwaiti official was quoted as saying by the United Arab Emirates newspaper Gulf News .

b>Exporters reject embargo

But leading Arab oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which rejected an oil embargo, stifled Saddams trump card. Iran, Libya and Sudan say they back the idea  but only if Arab and Muslim oil producers agreed to it.

Their reluctance is palpable. Irans oil earnings account for 80 percent of its hard-currency income and any sharp price falls could further hurt the troubled economy.

Likewise, other Arab and Muslim countries are aware of the benefits guaranteed by positive ties with the United States and the influence that oil has on their ties with Washington.

By supporting the Palestinian cause, Iraq makes it difficult for Arab countries to join any alliance against Saddam, Mushari al-Naim, professor of political science at King Saud University in Riyadh, was quoted as saying in The Gulf Today newspaper.

Saudi Arabia will not want to anger Arab public opinion by quickly filling the gap in Iraqi supplies, dulling Saddams move. But above all, Riyadh will use this opportunity to underline its status as a reliable source of oil to the West, al-Naim added.

In retrospect, the experience of the 1973 oil embargo was so damaging that Arab oil-producing countries are loathe to hit the replay button. In the aftermath of that war that pitched Israel against Syria and Egypt, Arabexporters slashed production by five million barrels a day, causing prices to quadruple.

Impossible proposal

Today, Arab economies are worse off. Their populations are growing twice as fast as economic growth rates and unemployment rates hover in the double digits.

Impossible was how Kuwait called Iraqs proposal for an oil embargo. How can we support our Palestinian brothers if we do not have revenues? a Kuwaiti government statement said last week.

We have to be realistic when talking about the oil weapon. This is a double-edged sword that will do more harm to us than the United States, both in the short and long-term, it added.

But this logic does not always sit well with people in the Middle East, who have been following the Israeli offensive closely.

The economic explanation is not appealing at a time of political crisis of this magnitude, argues Iqbal Ismail Mubarak, a history student at the University of Sharjah in the UAE. This battle is the Stalingrad of Palestine. A political solution is urgent and must be found even if an economic price has to be paid.

But Dr Abdullah Khaliq Abdullah of same university says the angry sentiments in the streets are unlikely to change the cautious positions so far of many Arab governments.

The political ground realities in the Middle East do not allow for pressure groups to organise any demonstration that is more than token. It is quite unlikely that the public rallies can impose any decision on their governments, Abdullah said in an interview. It has to be top-down, not vice versa.