MIDEAST: Arab Leaders Have Another Go at Agreeing

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

George Baghdadi

TUNIS, May 21 2004 (IPS) - The sharp escalation in violence in the Palestinian territories and in Iraq places heavy pressure on Arab leaders to take a united stand at this weekend’s summit.

The summit is being seen also as a last ditch attempt to promote democracy and reform in the Arab world.

The new attempt at agreement on these issues comes after the cancellation of a meeting of the Arab League in Tunis two months ago. The meeting was cancelled following sharp differences over these very issues among leaders of the 22 Arab countries representing some 270 million people.

Even by the erratic standards of Arab summit meetings, long marked by public display of anger and open insults, that last-minute cancellation in March came as a surprise. It was the first time an Arab League summit had been cancelled like that.

Tunisian authorities are again keeping a low profile. And it is not certain how many Arab leaders will be around to find agreement or disagreement.

King of Bahrain Hamed Ben Isa al-Khalifa who was due to hand over chairmanship of the summit to Tunisian President Zein Al-Abideen Ben Ali will not be present.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz will not attend either. The Crown Prince, a regional political heavyweight, would be uncomfortable standing up for his peace plan adopted two years ago at the Beirut summit while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon continues his destructive policies, political commentators here say.

That peace initiative offered Israel full normalisation of relations with the Arab world in exchange for total withdrawal from all territory Israel occupied since 1967.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was the first Arab leader to declare his no-show. He was due to attend celebrations marking the 14th anniversary of the merger of north and south Yemen.

The Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah will be represented by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah. United Arab Emirates President Zayed ibn Sultan al-Nahayan left for London Friday on a private visit.

Algerian President Abdullaziz Bu Tafliqa is scheduled to visit the Tunisian capital for two hours to attend the opening session. He will then leave for an African summit in Mozambique.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is holed up in his headquarters in the West Bank and fears that Israel would block his return if he leaves. Arafat will address the summit through a video link from Ramallah.

The heads of government or state who will attend will come from Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia and Comoros, officials said.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa remains optimistic. The summit “will be a qualitative leap in joint Arab action,” he said after arrival in Tunis Wednesday.

Most foreign ministers have arrived for preparatory discussions ahead of the summit.

In addition, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to attend, as are European Union (EU) Commissioner Romano Prodi and Irish foreign minister Brian Cowan. Ireland currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

The Bush administration has made no secret of its desire for the meeting to end with a strong statement backing more open government, and democratic change in the Middle East.

For Washington, democratic change across a region ruled by autocratic governments would help justify the decision to invade Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.

A “Greater Middle East Plan” put forward by the United States envisages a range of political and economic reforms. It includes promotion of democracy and human rights, and an improvement in the status of women. A draft proposal is believed to contain some of these elements.