KHARTOUM, 30 March 2006 — Arab leaders meeting in Sudan yesterday expressed dismay at the Israeli election victory of a party committed to unilateral steps, after renewing their own offer of land-for-peace through international mediation.
The Arab League’s 22 members ended a two-day summit in the Sudanese capital with a unanimous rejection of go-it-alone Israeli measures.
The Arab heads of state said they remained committed to a 2002 initiative which offers Israel peace and normal relations in return for withdrawal from land occupied in the 1967 war.
They promised to maintain financial aid to the Palestinian Authority at $55 million a month and urged other donors to keep paying even after Hamas takes office.
Israelis voting on Tuesday gave victory to interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party, which has pledged to annex parts of the West Bank and define Israel’s borders unilaterally unless Palestinians lay down their guns ahead of any negotiations.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the election result would make no difference unless Olmert amended his policies. “This result will not change (anything) as long as the agenda of Olmert himself does not change and he does not abandon the question of unilateral agreements,” Abbas told reporters.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said: “It’s not comprehensible... accepting unilateral withdrawals according to Israeli whims. This will not work but will only lead to worsening matters.
“It is impossible to accept Israeli proposals that we have seen so far. Is there anything new the new Israeli government can come up with? Many Arabs don’t think so,” he added.
Foreign Minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib of Jordan, one of two Arab countries which have peace treaties with Israel, was less pessimistic. “It’s too early to judge,” he said.
“We hope the elections will contribute to creating the right conditions for resuming negotiations. We believe a peaceful solution is only possible through a negotiated agreement between Palestinians and Israelis,” the Jordanian minister added.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal expressed the Kingdom’s satisfaction over the resolutions taken at the summit to strengthen joint Arab action.
Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi told the summit that Saudi Arabia would not host the next summit. It will be held in Cairo, where the Arab League headquarters are located.
Ten of the heads of state did not attend the Khartoum summit and most of them who came left by yesterday morning. It was a disappointing turnout for the Sudanese hosts, who had wanted a show of solidarity against criticism of their handling of the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
A summit offer to fund African Union forces in Darfur from October is too late as troops need immediate cash to help stop escalating violence there, an AU official said yesterday.
“This is medicine after death,” said Baba Gana Kingibe, the head of the AU mission in Sudan. “We need the assistance now in order to be able to resolve the crisis.” At the summit, Arab leaders promised to fund the cash-strapped AU force from Oct. 1, but the AU has renewed its mandate only until the end of September. They declined to specify how much they would give.
But Kingibe welcomed the show of solidarity for Arab-African relations in the 53-member AU, where there are often divisions between Arabic-speaking states and sub-Saharan nations.
