TUNIS, 22 May 2004 — Arab officials said yesterday they were encouraged by a US decision to allow passage of a UN resolution criticizing Israel, saying they hoped it signaled a tougher line against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the vote was a positive signal but that the Bush administration needs to go further to be perceived as an “honest broker” in efforts to make peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“I hope this is a message that would stress there is a change in American policy,” Moussa told The Associated Press. “Abstention is definitely better than the usual veto that hampers the United Nations in dealing with major issues of human rights in the occupied territories.”
On Wednesday, the United States abstained from a UN Security Council resolution demanding that Israel halt the demolition of Palestinian homes and condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians near a Gaza refugee camp.
Several Arab foreign ministers, meeting yesterday in the Tunisian capital a day ahead of a weekend summit of leaders from the Arab League, said they also saw the US vote at the United Nations as a good sign.
“I hope they (the Americans) finally realize that support of Israel under the pretext of self-defense is leaving the Israelis to commit more and more acts of aggression and further complicates and inflames the situation,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.
“We hope that this is an indication that the US is finally determined to exert its influence on the Israelis to allow the peace process to resume,” he said.
The summit that starts today is expected to focus on the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the recent escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories. Other items on the agenda are reform of the Arab League and a response to a US proposal for political reform in the Middle East.
US President George W. Bush’s plan for reform, known as the Middle East Greater Initiative, is expected to be a main topic at a G-8 summit of major industrial countries on June 8-10 in Sea Island, Georgia.
The summit is expected to conclude tomorrow with a resolution calling for the re-launching of a land-for-peace initiative that was endorsed by the Arab League in Beirut in 2002.
Arab officials said summit leaders are expected to set up a committee to implement the initiative in cooperation with the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, the sponsors of the Middle East road map.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said the Arab leaders hope that re-launching the plan might give a further push to international peace efforts. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud was the first head of state to arrive in Tunis yesterday for the summit of the Arab League, which represents 21 Arab countries and the Palestinians.
Many of the states are to be represented at the summit by their foreign ministers. Prince Saud Al-Faisal is heading the Kingdom’s delegation. Bahrain’s King Hamad ibn Issa Al-Khalifa, the current summit chair, has delegated the Gulf country’s prime minister to represent him at the meeting. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is also staying away.
