Qaddafi Walks Out

TUNIS, 23 May 2004 — Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi walked away from an Arab summit yesterday, damaging the unity of the Arab League to protest against its agenda and failure to take up his proposal for a single Israeli-Palestinian state. Qaddafi did not immediately pull his country out of the 22-member League but said he hoped Libya’s basic people’s congresses, local councils which theoretically decide Libyan policy, would agree to withdrawal.

“Unfortunately Libya is forced to boycott the summit because it does not agree to the agenda of the Arab governments. Libya wants the agenda of the Arab peoples,” Qaddafi said during a rambling news conference after leaving the opening session.

Libya has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the League and Qaddafi was a reluctant participant in the Tunis meeting, the last to arrive yesterday morning after Arab leaders telephoned to press him to turn up.

Qaddafi is known for creating drama at international meetings, and his walkout was the only glitch in a meeting carefully prepared to prevent unwelcome surprises.

Arab League spokesman Hossam Zaki said he hoped the withdrawal would not affect the preparations, which followed an abortive attempt to hold a summit in Tunis in March.

Qaddafi left the conference hall as Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa defended the League from what he said were attempts to undermine it.

“Some voices have risen up, calling for getting rid of the Arab League, or breaking it up,” he said, also criticizing Arab governments for failing to pay their dues.

Qaddafi’s main concern appeared to be the Arab League’s failure to adopt his “white paper” proposal for a single Israeli-Palestinian state, instead of the widely accepted alternative of Israeli and Palestinian states side by side.

Thirteen heads of state and three prime ministers, as well as representatives from the six other Arab countries, took part in the opening session at a heavily guarded conference center in the Tunisian capital.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali opened the session, saying Arabs “look forward to results that would rise to their ambitions of cooperation and solidarity.”

Ben Ali asked delegates to stand in a moment of silence for the Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks.

Condemning the assassination of Palestinian political leaders and the killing of civilians, he called for resumption of negotiations and for more international efforts to reactivate the US-backed road map that envisages a Palestinian state by next year. He called for international protection of the Palestinian people and a halt to Israeli “violations.”

The Tunisian president also stressed the necessity of Iraq regaining its sovereignty “as soon as possible” and for the United Nations to “assume its responsibilities” while “preserving the dignity, unity and territorial integrity” of Iraq.

Yasser Arafat, who was holed up in his West Bank headquarters fearing Israel may bar him from returning, addressed the conference for the third year via video from Ramallah. He accused Israel of waging a “war of annihilation” against the Palestinian people but reiterated that the Palestinians were committed to “the peace of the brave” with Israel and that negotiations based on international resolutions, the Arab peace initiative and the road map were the way to achieve this.

“I declare from the heart of the (Israeli) siege that occupation and military solutions will not bring peace, security and stability for the Israelis,” he said.

Security around the venue was tight, with roads blocked and black-clad commandos, along with sniffer dogs, deployed outside the center and a nearby hotel where many of the delegations were staying.