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EDITOR'S
NOTE
Representatives
of the 22 members of the League of Arab States are
meeting today and tomorrow in Algeria for the
organization's annual summit. Attention will
be focused on progress in the Middle East peace
process with renewed interest being shown in Crown
Prince Abdullah's peace proposal -- adopted at the
League's 2002 summit in Beirut. Economic
issues will also be addressed at the two day
event. This SUSRIS NID provides an article
discussing these and other facets of the summit
along with numerous links to related articles and
documents that will help you understand
developments at this year's summit.
Summit
Focuses on Arab Economies
Khaled Almaeena, Arab News
ALGIERS,
22 March 2005 � The Arab League Summit starts
today with an air of seriousness and purpose as
delegates from the 22-member group are expected to
focus more on social and economic issues than at
earlier meetings, though Saudi diplomats hope to
restart the Arab peace plan.
Arab
diplomats described the summit as �extremely
important� despite the absence of many leaders.
They said it would discuss ways to reactivate Arab
peace plan proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah.
The
peace plan, endorsed by the 2002 Beirut Summit,
calls for an Israeli withdrawal to 1967 Arab
borders, establishment of a Palestinian state with
Jerusalem as its capital and the right of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
The
initiative offers Israel peace and normal relations
with Arab countries in return for withdrawal to the
borders as they stood on the eve of the Middle East
War of 1967. Jordan had tried to simplify the offer,
known in the Arab world as the Beirut Initiative, to
send a message of peaceful intentions to Israelis
and world public opinion.
Informed
sources said the Jordanian peace proposals did not
include Jerusalem as capital of the Palestinian
state and the return of Palestinian refugees.
Analysts said the Arab peace plan could not go
forward because it was not properly �served� by
the Arab League. In the light of new geopolitical
changes, more should be done, they said.
Speaking
to Saudi journalists attending the summit, Foreign
Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the Arab League
was seeking membership for an Arab country on the UN
Security Council at the time of its expansion.
Analysts predicted Egypt could become that member.
Prince
Saud emphasized the significance of the security
pact endorsed by Arab leaders in their 16th Summit
in Tunisia. �It is part of the Arab Security
Council Charter,� he added.
Saudi
diplomats are working quietly to build a consensus
among the many diverse perspectives represented
here.
Administrative
and financial reforms for Arab League, presented by
its Secretary-General Amr Moussa, also will figure
high on the summit agenda. The league suffers
financial constraints as a result of the delay in
payment of contributions by some member states.
Saudi Arabia has been prompt in paying its dues.
Informed sources said civil institutions, such as
NGOs, will be included in future Arab League
meetings.
The
Arab Free Trade Agreement is another important topic
on the agenda, delegates said, adding that some
issues, such as customs tariffs and product origins,
have remained unresolved.
Economic
analysts expressed their optimism that after AFTA,
Arab countries soon would reach agreement on a
customs union. �This is a bigger task because of
the different economic setups of Arab countries,�
they said.
�Arab
League summits in the last couple of years have
taken on a new dimension in the sense that economic
dictates have prevailed over political differences,�
one analyst told Arab News.
Prince
Saud said the foreign ministers� meeting, which
finalized the agenda, also discussed UN reforms,
adding that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would
attend the summit�s opening session and hold talks
with Arab leaders.
A
top diplomat called for the revival of the Middle
East peace road map by the Quartet including the
United States and Russia. He hoped that the unity of
Palestinian factions would advance the peace plan.
Iraq,
reeling under a two-year foreign occupation and
struggling to form a new government, is expected to
recover its legitimate seat at the summit, analysts
said.
Commentators
said the postwar Iraqi authorities, who were kept at
arm�s length by their Arab peers after the fall of
Saddam Hussein�s regime two years ago, will be
embraced back into the Arab fold in Algiers.
�The
Arab states cannot oppose any elected government
that represents the various Iraqi factions, even if
it emerged under US occupation,� said Marwan
Beshara, a political science professor at the
American University of Paris.
�Arab
states have no alternative but to accept the fact
that the United States has the power to change the
facts on the ground,� Beshara said. Iraqi diplomat
Hana Rubaie Arab expected her country�s
delegation, led by outgoing President Ghazi Al-Yawar,
to be welcomed warmly at the Algiers summit.
Reprinted
with permission of Arab News
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