DAMASCUS/AMMAN, 28 March 2008 — As Damascus prepares for the Arab Summit that begins tomorrow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said his country was seeking the Kingdom’s help to solve the political crisis in Lebanon.
“Syrian efforts alone are not enough. There should be a combined effort by all Arab parties who have friends and influence in Lebanon, especially our brothers in Saudi Arabia,” Muallem yesterday told diplomats of the 23-member Arab League, who met in Damascus to prepare for the two-day Arab Summit.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will not be attending the summit and will instead send their representatives. Lebanon has said it is boycotting the summit.
Addressing a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and diplomats in Damascus, Muallem said Syria wanted a settlement to the Lebanese crisis. “Syria wants a Lebanon that is sovereign, independent and stable, and anyone who thinks or wants to think otherwise is mistaken,” he added.
The Syrian minister appealed to Arab countries to overcome their differences. “Our differences, whatever they are, must not overshadow what we have in common... through objective and honest dialogue... we can find effective solutions,” he said.
Muallem also hinted at the possibility of withdrawing the Arab peace initiative if Israel does not show interest in peace.
“We are for a just and comprehensive peace and the principle of land for peace, but we are certain Israel, which is backed by the United States, does not have the political will to make peace,” Muallem said. “Therefore, we support what came out of our meeting in Cairo, which is to study Arab options for peace.”
The Arab peace initiative, the brainchild of King Abdullah, was first proposed at the Beirut summit in 2002. It offers Israel normal relations and comprehensive peace agreements with Arab countries in exchange for its withdrawal from all occupied territories.
Abbas and Abdallah on Summit
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that he would reject a plan to withdraw the peace initiative. “Our attitude has always been that this plan should remain as it is and that we should defend it and fight for it because it is an expansive initiative and the other side (Israel) should accept it,” Abbas told reporters in Amman after meeting Jordan’s King Abdallah.
He added that his talks with King Abdallah focused on “the Arab Summit and what is in store after the summit.”
Abbas has said he would lead the Palestinian delegation to the summit, but Jordan has so far refrained from saying whether King Abdallah would head its team.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also talked about the possibility of withdrawing the Arab peace blueprint if Israel continued to ignore it. An Amman-based coalition of 130 Arab political parties has also urged the summit to “withdraw” the initiative.
Moussa said in an opening speech to foreign ministers that Arab leaders would also focus on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace. He added that Arab leaders are unhappy with the pace of talks following the US-sponsored peace conference held in Annapolis last year.
Lebanon’s Boycott
Syria’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Yussef Al-Ahmad, said that since Lebanon has decided to boycott the summit, the foreign ministers would adopt a previous agreement on the crisis but not discuss it in detail.
“Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had intended to discuss the situation in Lebanon in detail had Lebanon been present,” Al-Ahmed told reporters on the sidelines of the foreign ministers’ meeting.
“Due to Lebanon’s absence, the Arab foreign ministers decided to adopt the same statement, which was decided in Cairo three weeks ago and which calls for supporting Lebanon as well as the Arab initiative on Lebanon,” he said.
That initiative calls for the election of army chief Gen. Michel Sleiman as president and the formation of a national unity government in which no single party has veto power and a new electoral law.
Arab delegates said Yemen is trying to get the summit to endorse its efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah. Both factions agreed to start unity talks last week under Yemeni sponsorship.
The delegates said the Yemeni initiative has received some backing by Arab governments.
But a Palestinian delegate was skeptical there would be any reconciliation until Hamas surrenders Gaza. “There is no way that Abbas will sit with Hamas until they give up their coup,” said Nimr Hamad.
Summit to Be a ‘Success’
Despite the low-level representation from key Arab countries, the official Syrian press said the summit would be a success.
“It is enough for the Arab summit in Damascus that the American ghost is banished... It is enough that for the first time all its decisions and agreements will be free of the American virus,” state-owned daily Ath-Thawra wrote in an editorial.
However, some commentators argued that the absence of key Arab leaders from this annual event could only be interpreted as a political indictment of the host country over its policies, especially in Lebanon.
