DOHA: An Arab-backed Middle East peace offer will not be on the table for ever, Arab foreign ministers warned yesterday, days before a right-wing government assumes power in Israel.
“The peace initiative that is proposed today will not be on offer for a long time,” read a copy of the draft declaration obtained by AFP ahead of Arab leaders’ annual summit starting in Doha tomorrow.
“Arab commitment to this initiative is dependent on an Israeli acceptance of it,” the declaration said.
The draft declaration reiterated, however, that the peace initiative remains “a strategic Arab choice to achieve just and comprehensive peace.”
Arab leaders will meet amid attempts to overcome rifts stemming largely from responses to Israel’s three-week onslaught on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
They will also discuss the growing influence of Shiite Iran in the region.
“We have to live up to our responsibilities and work toward closing ranks,” Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani said at yesterday’s meeting of foreign ministers. It remains unclear how many leaders from the 22-members of the Arab League will take part in the summit, although a Qatari official said some 16 heads of state will be present.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak — whose country is mediating Palestinian reconciliation talks and efforts to forge a sustainable Hamas-Israel truce for Gaza — will be among those staying away.
Arab foreign ministers also urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to annul its arrest warrant against Sudan’s President Omar Bashir, amid continuing speculation in Doha about whether he will attend the summit at the invitation of Qatar, which is not bound by ICC rules. The draft calls for “canceling the measures” adopted by the ICC against Bashir over alleged war crimes in conflict-ravaged Darfur, and “urges all Arab countries not to cooperate with the measures of the ICC.”
“The ICC decision against President Omar Bashir sets a dangerous precedent in targeting a president who is still in office,” the draft read. The foreign ministers, however, did not agree on a proposal to hold an emergency Arab summit in Khartoum in solidarity with Bashir after the Doha gathering, leaving the proposal for the heads of state to weigh.
The ICC calls on signatory states to implement warrants, while all UN member states are also urged to cooperate with The Hague-based court. Jordan is the only Arab state, which was party to the Rome treaty that created the ICC.
Meanwhile, Egypt is not optimistic about the Israeli government which premier-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to unveil next week, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said yesterday.
Abul Gheit’s comments to reporters came after Netanyahu’s office said the hawkish leader had sought to reassure Cairo after he tapped Avigdor Lieberman to head the foreign ministry in the new administration.
