EGYPT: Foreign ministers meet in Cairo ahead of annual Arab League summit.

Peace in the Middle East, the crisis in Darfur, the situation in Iraq and Iran's nuclear programme are among the key issues that will be discussed when members of the Arab League meet in Saudi Arabia end of March. Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Sunday (March 4) to prepare for the annual summit of Arab League heads of state that is scheduled to take place at the end of March in Saudi Arabia. The high-profile one-day meeting was headed by Tunisia and attended by at least 18 ministers and four permanent representatives. The approaching summit is set to discuss a host of regional crises, from the war in Iraq to the crisis in Darfur and the tense situations in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The conference discussed cooperation forums between Arab states and issues of conflict. A highlight of the conference was the presence of Turkish Premier and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who proposed development through bolstering an Arab-Turkish cooperation project. The Arab states are trying to forge a unified position in particular on the recent formation of a Palestinian unity government, which brought together the feuding Hamas and Fatah factions. The agreement was signed in the Saudi city of Mecca. So far several Arab states have staked out different positions on how far they should push reluctant western governments to recognize the new Palestinian government. Last week Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa urged Arab states to come up with a strong position in order to exert as much influence as possible in any future peace negotiations. Western governments have so far failed to reach a consensus on recognizing the Palestinian unity government and have not yet decided whether conditions set by the so-called "Quartet" of Middle East negotiators should be imposed on it as a prerequisite. "I don't think that the Quartet will reach such a level by they would deny the national unity government their right to be a partner, full partner under the national stage and on the peace process in the Middle East," Moussa said at a news conference on Sunday. Israel has not yet recognized the Mecca Agreement. Libya has told the Arab League it will not attend an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia this month because of a change in venue, Arab diplomats have reportedly said on Sunday but Moussa denied it. "Libya has not announced officially not attending the summit and the efforts are still being taken to get them to attend. We hope that all would attend the summit because of the present dangerous situation," said Moussa. The Arab summit in Khartoum last year said the annual meeting this year would take place in Egypt, where the Arab League has its headquarters. But Saudi Arabia, which will hold the chairmanship, later offered to host the event in Riyadh and the Arab League accepted the invitation. Libya and Saudi Arabia have had poor relations for some years, especially after allegations that a group of Libyans plotted to assassinate King Abdullah in 2003 when he was crown prince. Libya said it had nothing to do with any such plot. Arab foreign ministers also complained on Sunday that three nuclear powers -- the United States, Britain and Russia -- had tried to change the procedures for reviewing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2010. A letter distributed by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on behalf of the three NPT depository governments depart from previous practice by dropping any reference to a 1995 resolution advocating a nuclear-free Middle East, according to an Egyptian government statement. Arab foreign ministers meeting adopted an Egyptian proposal to write to Beckett asking her to circulate a corrected version of the procedures, reinstating the customary references to the Middle East resolution. "We are for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy this is the right of all countries members of the non-proliferation treaty such as Iran, one. Two, we do not need any military program in the region and this applies to Iran, applies to Israel, applies to a, b, x, or y or z. This is a general position and it should not be taken as eyeing Iran only," said Moussa. Arab foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to appoint a new Arab League representative in Iraq to replace the representative who resigned in January.

ITN Source | March 5, 2007

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