MIDDLE EAST: Call to reassert Arab League role

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is by the United Arab Emirates news agency (WAM)

ABU DHABI, May 20 2003 (IPS) - The Arab League should launch initiatives to preserve the sovereignty of Iraq by forming a team of Arab intellectuals, diplomats and lobbyists to pressure the United Nations to safeguard the territorial integrity of Iraq, said Dr Clouvis Maqsoud, former Arab League representative to the UN.

Highlighting the post-Iraq war scenario at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Dubai Press Club on Sunday in the presence of Mohammed Al Douri, former Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Dr Maqsoud said "The tragedy in Palestine will be reenacted in Iraq if Arab states maintain their stance of not intervening to stop Americans who are planning to take charge of the Iraqi resources," he emphasized, according to reports in the UAE dailies.

Pointing to the ineffective role of the United Nations, Dr Maqsoud said that the authority of the Security Council is no more respected, as the US and its allies launched the war on Iraq. He added that the Anglo-American occupation, which has no legitimate basis, aims at rooting out Iraq from its Arabic heritage and history, stressing on Iraq’s role in forming the Arab League and its rich contributions to the Arabic culture.

"Appointing a police chief as minister of interior in Iraq and a retired US former general will add to Arab resentment against the Anglo-American occupation. Arab states should launch a diplomatic campaign to counter the British and American quests to control the vital resources in Iraq through international resolutions," he explained.

Dr Maqsoud believed that a common plan should be taken up by Arab leaders sidestepping their disputes, and reassert the role of Arab League. "Although the League was incapable of performing a satisfactory role in the past, it remains an international organization highlighting the Arab causes. The Arab leaders should come out with political and strategic programs to consolidate the League’s status," he said.

Compromising the rights of Arabs through agreements like Oslo and the so-called Middle East Roadmap should stop, Dr Maqsoud said, adding Arab leaders have to ensure legitimate rights while launching peace initiatives.

He stressed he did not believe in using bombings as a means of resistance saying such acts "are the result of rage." He attributed the breeding of bombers to the absence of political programs in the Arab world.