RIYADH, 29 March 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday lambasted the “illegitimate foreign occupation” of Iraq by US-led forces and urged Arab leaders attending a historic summit in the Saudi capital not to allow foreign powers to determine the future course of the region.
In his keynote address opening the two-day summit, King Abdullah called upon Arab leaders to usher in a new era in Arab joint work while holding them accountable for disunity in the Arab world over the past decades.
“In Iraq, blood flows between brothers in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation and hateful sectarianism, threatening a civil war,” King Abdullah said after taking over the presidency of the 23-member Arab League from Sudan’s President Omar Bashir.
Washington, however, justified its occupation of Iraq. “The US is in Iraq at the request of the Iraqis and under a UN mandate. Any suggestion to the contrary is wrong,” said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The Saudi leader also called for an end to the international blockade on the Palestinians. “It has become necessary to end the unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people as soon as possible so that the peace process can move in an atmosphere far from oppression and force,” the king said.
Saudi Arabia last month brokered a unity government between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction and Hamas, hoping it would help end a crippling Western blockade imposed after the Islamist group took office over a year ago. The summit drew a number of world and Muslim leaders, including Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Red carpets and streets lined with flags of the nations attending the summit greeted heads of state who have adopted a number of resolutions on restarting the Arab peace plan. “The leaders have approved all the draft resolutions in the closed-door session,” said Palestinian Ambassador Jamal Shobaki.
Israel yesterday gave a guarded welcome to the peace plan, saying it contained some positive elements. “We need to take our time studying what has happened at the summit before taking an official position,” said an aide of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
King Abdullah urged Arab leaders to strengthen their confidence in themselves in order to determine their future. “We will not allow forces from outside the region to determine the future of the region,” said the king.
He also emphasized the need for unity to confront challenges. “The Arab League was established over 60 years ago to become the core for true Arab unity, military unity, economic unity, and political unity, and above all the unity of hearts and minds,” King Abdullah said.
“The question that needs to be addressed is: What has been achieved from all of this? The answer is illustrated in our reality, which reveals that that we are far away from unity compared to what we were when the League was established.”
“The Palestinian people continue to suffer from the consequences of occupation and are deprived of their right to independence and setting up a state of their own,” he said. He also spoke about the Makkah accord that led to the establishment of a unity government in Palestine.
As for Lebanon, the king said that the country that used to be a role model for coexistence and prosperity has become handicapped, setting the stage for more tension and violence. He blamed “Arab leniency” for foreign interference in Sudan and spoke about the tense situation in Somalia as a result of civil wars. “All of this is happening and we are helpless to provide any support to our brethren,” he added. “What have we done all of these years to resolve these problems? I do not want to blame the Arab League, which only reflects our situation,” he said.
“The real blame is to be put on us Arab leaders. Our continuing differences and refusal to adopt the means of unity have made the Arab Ummah lose its trust in our credibility and its hope for a prosperous today and tomorrow.”
He said that “disunity and backwardness” would not have been the fate of Arab countries if Arab leaders were able to use their reasoning and differentiate between good and bad. “All what we need is to rid our minds of fear,” he said, adding that Arabs should have trust in one another. King Abdullah said he was optimistic about the future despite the elements of despair. “The first step in unity for Arab leaders is to have confidence in themselves, and then trust in one another. “If trust is restored credibility would follow suit. And if credibility is restored, hope will fill the air. When that happens, we will not allow a power from outside the region to draw its future.”
King Abdullah concluded his speech by reciting a verse from the Holy Qur’an, which means: “God does not change a people until they change what is in themselves.”
“I call upon you, starting from myself, to have a new beginning where hearts and minds would be united in an unending demonstration of solidarity that can help us achieve our ambitions and restore our past glory,” he concluded.
The 19th Arab summit in Riyadh is considered to be the largest and most successful gathering of its kind in the region where Arab leaders are meeting to form a unified agenda on the region’s policies.
The Saudi delegation includes Crown Prince Sultan, Prince Badr, deputy commander of the National Guard, Prince Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs, Prince Naif, interior minister, Prince Salman, governor of Riyadh, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, foreign minister, and Prince Muqrin, chief of intelligence.
In his speech, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa lauded the role played by King Abdullah for promoting peace and prosperity in the region. Moussa criticized Israel for wanting to change the Arab peace initiative before accepting it. The initiative was proposed by King Abdullah in the Arab Summit held in Beirut in 2002. It proposes that Israel withdraw to pre-1967 borders in return for diplomatic recognition. “The aim of Arabs is clear and has been registered in the peace initiative which applies to all Arab nations,” the Arab League chief said. “It lays out the framework for a comprehensive peace plan,” he added. He called on Israel to return to the negotiation table to reach a fair solution that would be in line with the international law and UN resolutions, regarding the exchange of land for peace.
“We are at a crossroads ... either we move toward a true and sustainable peace, which we are ready for, or continue with the tension in the region, which many are also ready for.” He said that the absence of “fair peace brokers” damaged heavily the peace process in the Middle East.
“We are hopeful that the peace process would resume and be successful, especially since we are racing against time with the continuation of Israeli practices to change the demography of Arab occupied territories,” he added.
Regarding Iraq, Moussa said that the Arab stance regarding the war-torn country has not changed since the toppling of the Saddam regime. He said that the Arab world supported the establishment of a unified Iraqi government that would represent all groups. Moussa also said the Arab League was ready to restart the reconciliation meeting for Iraqis.
He said the initiatives to resolve differences in Iraq would require joint efforts from the Arab League, the UN, and the Organization of Islamic Conference, in addition to Iraq’s neighbors.
