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.
