CAIRO, 9 May 2004 — Under extraordinary secrecy, Arab foreign ministers tried yesterday to find common ground on Israel, Iraq and US-proposed political reforms in an effort to salvage a summit of their leaders.
But opening at least part of the discussions to the public, Jordan’s foreign minister held a news conference to urge Arab nations to do more on advancing the peace process with Israel, telling them not to wait for Israeli concessions before drafting some of their own. The summit of the 22-member Arab League, scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March, was postponed at the last minute because of disagreements among ministers on Israel and political reforms.
In an effort to present a unified Arab voice to the world, organizers imposed unusual secrecy on the ministers’ gathering.
Visual aids were projected onto a screen, not handed out on paper, to avoid copies from making their way into public hands. Ministers held most of their meetings without aides to reduce the possibility of leaks to the news media. Ministers did not speak to reporters as they entered the meeting, and no news conferences were scheduled.
An Arab League spokesman said the secrecy was “out of respect for the Arab leaders” so their summit doesn’t get upstaged by their own ministers.
But some details of the meeting emerged.
Delegates, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said a new date for the summit and US-proposed reforms in the Arab world were not discussed yesterday.
Delegates spent much time debating a letter from US President George W. Bush to Jordan’s King Abdallah, they said.
In the letter, Bush did not give guarantees for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Arabs had sought, but he appeared to back away from assurances he gave to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month.
Some delegates had said the letter didn’t go far enough, according to people who attended the meeting, but Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher indicated the consensus was that the letter had done more good than harm. He also urged Arab nations to do more to advance the peace process.
“Since the United States is saying in a written letter that the issues of final status are the responsibility of the two parties alone, let’s build on this stance, benefit from it, and use it to move the peace process,” he said.
Arabs have asked for guarantees from the United States on two issues: That an eventual Palestinian state would encompass the West Bank, and that Palestinian refugees who fled in 1948 from land that now lies in Israel be allowed to return.
In the letter, Bush said those are issues to be discussed in final negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Last month, he angered Arab nations by telling Sharon he supports Israel’s retention of some West Bank settlements and opposes resettlement of the refugees.
