ALGIERS, 24 March 2005 — Arab leaders concluded their two-day summit here yesterday. They decided to relaunch the 2002 Arab peace plan, originally proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah, and to create a pan-Arab Parliament.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa read the Algiers Declaration in which the delegates underscored the need to reactivate the Arab initiative and urged the international community to support the peace plan.
Moussa also announced the creation of an Arab Parliament with four members from each of the 22 Arab League states and said the next summit would be held in Khartoum next year. The Parliament will be based in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi created a stir at the summit’s concluding session when he described both Israelis and the Palestinians as “idiots,” much to the amusement of most delegates.
Qaddafi, however, criticized the world community for its double standard in implementing UN Security Council resolutions. He cautioned against the danger posed by the use of force and of making Resolution 1559 into a pretext to attack Syria.
“Why do they insist on implementing Resolution 1559 while ignoring all the resolutions related to the Arab-Israeli conflict?” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Qaddafi as saying.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the summit that Syria’s military pullout should be completed by May. He also said that a new probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would likely be needed.
Addressing Arab leaders, including Syrian President Bashar Assad, the UN secretary-general called for free and fair parliamentary elections in Lebanon in May. “Within the next few days, I expect to release the report of the mission of inquiry I established in the wake of the killing. A more comprehensive investigation may be necessary,” Annan said.
The delegates endorsed Prince Abdullah’s proposals to promote Arab reforms and assigned the ministerial council to discuss the proposals in order to implement them.
The controversy between Syria and Lebanon did not come up at the summit as delegates from both sides refrained from presenting it. As for Middle East peace, the leaders hoped that the European initiative would push the process further.
The summit was marked by the absence of several key players. Only 13 heads of state showed up for the conference which opened Tuesday. The delegates pledged Arab support for Syria, Lebanon and for the Palestinians to recover land occupied by Israel.
The summit’s final declaration makes peace with Israel conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state and the return of refugees.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki said Israel’s “quick and negative” reaction to the Arab initiative looks as if “they are not interested in peace.” He said the Arabs were expecting a positive reaction from the Jewish state.
The summit reaffirms “respect for Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and independence and noninterference in its domestic affairs” and welcomes its political transition following legislative elections held in January.
The delegates denounced “terrorism in all its forms and regardless of its motives and justifications” and said it should not be linked to Islam.
While voicing concern over the civil war in Darfur, the delegates expressed their support for Sudan’s unity and development.
The summit exhorted members of the cash-strapped organization to pay their dues to enable the organization to carry out its mission. Libya is one of the countries which have failed to pay their dues.
The summit decided to make the Middle East a region free from weapons of mass destruction and called “dangerous” Israel’s refusal to let the International Atomic Energy Agency inspect its installations.
The delegates also decided to establish a follow-up committee for resolutions and change voting methods. “They tasked the secretary-general to set up special commissions to study a plan to create an Arab court and an Arab security council, with the aim of submitting them to the next summit,” the final communique said.
