Summit reflects tumult in Arab world
Summit reflects tumult in Arab world
Nicolas Rothwell, Middle East correspondent
22mar05
ALGIERS: With much of the Arab world in political turmoil, leaders and government ministers from its 22 nations gather today in Algiers for a summit meeting already plagued, even before its formal opening, by fundamental divisions.
The list of dignitaries provides an index of the upheaval under way.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is absent, still struggling to form a caretaker government at home.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah will not attend, since he refuses to be in the same room as Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who apparently tried to have him assassinated last year.
The government leaders of most of the smaller Gulf states, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain will also be absent, even though the spread of terrorism in their region is one of the main challenges now before the Arab realm. Two key league member nations - the newly democratic Iraq and the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan - are in the midst of a fierce political argument over alleged involvement by the Government in Amman in a terror bombing inside Iraq.
The Jordanian Government has withdrawn its ambassador to Baghdad after large protests around its embassy, and Iraq followed suit yesterday. Chances of resolving this dispute at the Algiers summit are minimal.
Iraq's elected politicians will be absent, since the new parliament has not yet succeeded in forming a government.
And Jordan's King Abdullah II has suddenly discovered a "meeting with investors" in the US that takes priority over the Arab League's deliberations.
Despite this depleted guest list, the summit will attempt to solve the tensions over Lebanon's future and to agree a revised peace plan for the region, based on recognition of Israel. Bitter controversies have swirled throughout the past week around this revised plan, proposed by Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki.
The plan, which modifies an earlier Saudi initiative, envisages pan-Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel in return for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on the land occupied by Israel in the wake of the 1967 war.
But the initial Jordanian draft, which failed to spell out the land Israel would have to return, was attacked by hardline Arab League states including Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
Under sharp pressure, Jordan's Mr Mulki amended his first blueprint, put forward at a preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers, and the draft will now call for Israel to abandon all its territories, including East Jerusalem, as a pre-condition for peace.
This proposal, though, is unlikely to meet with serious attention from either the Israelis or their US allies.
The league summit will also turn something of a blind eye to the protracted crisis posed by Syria's gradual troop pull-back from its long-occupied neighbour, Lebanon.
A crucial UN Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw his forces is to be reviewed in three weeks, with the strong likelihood that international sanctions will be imposed on Damascus.
But the league has prepared, under Syrian influence, a resolution of solidarity with Damascus.
Syrian deputy foreign minister Walid Moalem said yesterday in Algiers that he was hopeful a resolution would emerge from the summit expressing support for Syria, as well as opposition to all American pressure and "foreign influence".
Other key topics on the agenda include reform of the league itself, the contentious spread of democracy in the Arab world and the reconstruction of Iraq.
© The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12620640%255E2703,00.html
Nicolas Rothwell, Middle East correspondent
22mar05
ALGIERS: With much of the Arab world in political turmoil, leaders and government ministers from its 22 nations gather today in Algiers for a summit meeting already plagued, even before its formal opening, by fundamental divisions.
The list of dignitaries provides an index of the upheaval under way.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is absent, still struggling to form a caretaker government at home.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah will not attend, since he refuses to be in the same room as Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who apparently tried to have him assassinated last year.
The government leaders of most of the smaller Gulf states, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain will also be absent, even though the spread of terrorism in their region is one of the main challenges now before the Arab realm. Two key league member nations - the newly democratic Iraq and the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan - are in the midst of a fierce political argument over alleged involvement by the Government in Amman in a terror bombing inside Iraq.
The Jordanian Government has withdrawn its ambassador to Baghdad after large protests around its embassy, and Iraq followed suit yesterday. Chances of resolving this dispute at the Algiers summit are minimal.
Iraq's elected politicians will be absent, since the new parliament has not yet succeeded in forming a government.
And Jordan's King Abdullah II has suddenly discovered a "meeting with investors" in the US that takes priority over the Arab League's deliberations.
Despite this depleted guest list, the summit will attempt to solve the tensions over Lebanon's future and to agree a revised peace plan for the region, based on recognition of Israel. Bitter controversies have swirled throughout the past week around this revised plan, proposed by Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki.
The plan, which modifies an earlier Saudi initiative, envisages pan-Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel in return for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on the land occupied by Israel in the wake of the 1967 war.
But the initial Jordanian draft, which failed to spell out the land Israel would have to return, was attacked by hardline Arab League states including Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
Under sharp pressure, Jordan's Mr Mulki amended his first blueprint, put forward at a preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers, and the draft will now call for Israel to abandon all its territories, including East Jerusalem, as a pre-condition for peace.
This proposal, though, is unlikely to meet with serious attention from either the Israelis or their US allies.
The league summit will also turn something of a blind eye to the protracted crisis posed by Syria's gradual troop pull-back from its long-occupied neighbour, Lebanon.
A crucial UN Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw his forces is to be reviewed in three weeks, with the strong likelihood that international sanctions will be imposed on Damascus.
But the league has prepared, under Syrian influence, a resolution of solidarity with Damascus.
Syrian deputy foreign minister Walid Moalem said yesterday in Algiers that he was hopeful a resolution would emerge from the summit expressing support for Syria, as well as opposition to all American pressure and "foreign influence".
Other key topics on the agenda include reform of the league itself, the contentious spread of democracy in the Arab world and the reconstruction of Iraq.
© The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12620640%255E2703,00.html
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