Ahmad
Warlord
Drama at Arab League Summit
Abdullatif Al-Mannawi, Asharq Alawsat
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 2 March 2003 Leaders from 22 Arab countries yesterday strongly opposed the planned US-led military attack on Iraq as a threat to Arab national security, and said their countries would not participate in any war.
A final communique issued after the one-day summit here also blasted the attempts to impose changes in the region, in a reference to US demands that President Saddam Hussein be removed from power.
The general peaceful atmosphere at the summit, however, was broken by an open UAE call for Saddam Hussein to step down, and by an attack by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafis against Saudi Arabia.
Crown Prince Abdullah, who led the Kingdoms delegation, threatened to withdraw from the conference after an angry exchange of words with the Libyan leader.
The summit, attended by leaders and officials from the 22 members of the Arab League, also decided to set up a committee that will explain the Arab position to international parties before going to Baghdad for talks with the Iraqi leadership.
The Arab leaders agreed on the complete rejection of a strike against Iraq, or threatening the security and safety of any Arab country, as a threat to the Arab national security, according to the communiqu? read out by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
They stressed that their countries refrain from participating in any military action that aims at the security, safety and territorial integrity of Iraq, the communiqu? added.
Saudi Arabia reiterated yesterday that it would have no part in an anticipated US-led war on Iraq and said a military conflict was not inevitable.
We have stated clearly that we will not take part in this war, and that is our position, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told Al-Arabiya satellite TV from Sharm El-Sheikh.
The controversial UAE proposal was made in the form of a message from President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahayan to the summit. The letter did not name Saddam but said the entire Iraqi leadership should step down and leave Iraq... within two weeks of adopting this Arab initiative.
Iraq should then be governed by the Arab League and the United Nations until it could return to its normal situation in accordance with the will of the brotherly Iraqi people. Sheikh Zayed said the Iraqi leadership should be given legal guarantees that it would not face prosecution.
The Iraqi delegation, led by Izzat Ibrahim, Saddams deputy, also threatened to leave the summit, but the proposal was withdrawn as a result of quick intervention by Egyptian and Libyan leaders.
Qaddafi criticized Saudi Arabia, in an impromptu speech, for the presence of US forces in the Kingdom.
He said when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, American forces started flowing into the Kingdom. I told King Fahd that American forces are moving into Saudi Arabia. He then replied America is a big country and we cannot prevent it and it can come. I told him: How can this happen to Saudi Arabia, which is an independent country? After that in a telephone conversation, the king told me that Iraq had intention to invade the Kingdom. I asked him how he knew. He said: We have seen the Iraqi forces deployed on the front. That means the Iraqi threat was a source of concern and threat for the Kingdom and all the Gulf states. America has pledged to protect this region because it is an important source of energy.
Here Prince Abdullah intercepted Qaddafis speech and said: Saudi Arabia is a front line country for the Muslim nation. It is not a colonial agent. Colonialists are for you and others. Who brought you to power? Dont say anything and dont interfere in matters in which you dont have any role. You are a liar. Your grave awaits you.
The Saudi delegation then prepared to leave the conference hall but following the intervention of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanese President Emile Lahud and others the delegation returned to the conference. The session was reconvened after a 20-minute break caused by the confusion.
Earlier in a press statement, Prince Abdullah warned that no country would be saved from the aftermath of the planned war on Iraq. Those who think otherwise are mistaken, he added.
The crown prince highlighted Saudi Arabias efforts to avert war. Because war with all its forms is a failure of values. In war the killer and killed are partners in the failure, he added.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri described the UAE proposal as US-inspired bilge and expressed satisfaction it was not even discussed at the summit. Saddam has said he would rather die than go into exile.
But UAE Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah ibn Zayed said the initiative had the backing of some Gulf states, and deplored the summits failure to discuss it as it could spare Iraq the torment of war.
The summits resolution was a compromise to satisfy both Iraq, which is backed by Syria, and the Gulf Arab states such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain which are hosting US troops massing for the threatened conflict.
Those states, which are bound by defense pacts with Washington, can now argue that, in the event of a war, they are not participating directly and that US forces operating from their soil are doing so under a UN mandate.
Following are the highlights of the summits resolutions:
* Arab states stress their firm refusal of a strike on Iraq, of any threat against the security and the territorial integrity of any Arab county, and stress the need to settle the Iraqi crisis peacefully.
* Call on all countries to back Arab efforts aimed at avoiding war through the full implementation by Iraq of UN Security Resolution 1441.
* Request that sufficient time be given to the (UN weapons) inspection teams in Iraq to complete their mission and call them to complete their mission objectively.
* Underscore the responsibility of the UN Security Council in preserving Iraqs independence and territorial integrity.
* Shall refrain from participating in any military action targeting the security or the territorial integrity of Iraq or any other country.
* State their solidarity with the Iraqi people and consider that the time has come to lift the embargo imposed on it.
* Task Bahrain, current chair of the summit, to set up an ad-hoc committee gathering the outgoing chair (Lebanon), the next chair (Tunisia), Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and all countries wishing to join.
* The committees mission will be to undertake contacts with international parties and to explain the Arab position, notably to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and to consult with the brotherly Iraqi government, in the framework of the resolutions of the Arab summit and to discuss ways to confront the serious challenges facing Iraq and Arab states.
* State that the Arab nations affairs and the development of its regimes is a question that can be decided by the peoples of the region only, far from any foreign interference. They denounce in this respect attempts to impose changes on the region and interference in its internal affairs.
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There is No Future For the Arab League
Mohammed Alkhereiji, Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 2 March 2003 Saudi intellectuals and political commentators contacted by Arab News last night offered a wide array of opinions on the failed Arab League summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, but on one thing they all agreed: The Arabs are hopelessly divided.
They were speaking after the extraordinary public showdown between Crown Prince Abdullah and Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, during which the crown prince reacted angrily to accusations that the Kingdom was a US puppet.
Leading businessman Hussein Shobokshi in Jeddah called the meltdown a dose of reality.
There are too many lingering issues and priorities, he elaborated.
The real issue is not the pending war on Iraq, but reform of the Arab condition.
Asked about his thoughts on the future of the Arab League, he said: I dont see a future for the Arab world, let alone the Arab League.
Dawood Al-Shirian, the Riyadh-based Gulf chief of the leading pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, said that this was a repeat of the Arab League summit in 1990 before the last Gulf War.
The Arab worlds condition needs to be addressed and reformed, he told Arab News. There are too many Arab nations whose view on the current condition is out of date and out of step with reality.
Moderate nations like the Kingdom, he said, are concerned with the important issues like the aftermath of the war and the possible ramifications it might have on the people of Iraq.
These are the issues that should have been at the forefront of the Arab summit.
Asked to comment on the fact that Egyptian TV decided to cut the live feed when the crown prince and Qaddafi exchanged insults, he added: The Arabic media is run by government officials. They make these decisions without proper consideration of the consequences.
Tariq Al-Homayed, the Jeddah-based managing editor of Asharq Alawsat daily published from London, said that the summit had been destined to fail.
No one can stop this war except Saddam, he added. I think Qaddafis outburst was irresponsible. All I see is turmoil for the Arab League in the future.
A Jeddah-based former senior oil executive, who asked not to be identified, told Arab News: Qaddafis role as a perpetual spoiler at summit conferences is well documented. His role as a spoiler was tolerated in pervious summits, but it obviously was not tolerated by Saudi Arabia this time round.
The future of the Arab League is only as relevant as the members who make it up, he said.
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Kingdom Delays Submitting Internal Arab Reform Plan
Saudi Press Agency
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 2 March 2003 Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, announced yesterday that he was postponing the presentation of his major initiative for reforming the Arab condition until the next Arab summit scheduled to take place in Tunis.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told a press conference here that the crown prince decided to postpone the presentation in order to provide Arab leaders with more time to discuss the pressing issues of Iraq and Palestine.
The postponement, he said, would also help Arab countries study the document thoroughly.
The Arab reform document is credible, Prince Saud said, adding that Arab leaders must be convinced of its importance to translate the initiative into a reality.
Prince Abdullahs plan calls for more internal reforms and greater political participation in Arab countries. The document also rejects any illegal external aggression against any Arab state. It stipulates that Arab disputes must be resolved through peaceful means.
The initiative, which was to be presented at the present summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, urges Arabs to work earnestly toward the full implementation of a greater Arab free trade zone by the end of 2005 on the way to establishing an Arab customs union within 10 years.
Riyadh wants the Arab leaders to adopt the initiative in the form of a declaration, endorsing the new Arab charter as binding on all Arab states.
The initiative reiterates that the Arab peace plan, endorsed by the last Arab summit in Beirut, remains the minimum acceptable condition to establish normal ties with Israel.
Prince Saud said the crown prince came up with the new proposals in light of the worsening situation in the Arab region and the troubles being faced by Iraq and the Palestinian people.
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not a good day..
Abdullatif Al-Mannawi, Asharq Alawsat
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 2 March 2003 Leaders from 22 Arab countries yesterday strongly opposed the planned US-led military attack on Iraq as a threat to Arab national security, and said their countries would not participate in any war.
A final communique issued after the one-day summit here also blasted the attempts to impose changes in the region, in a reference to US demands that President Saddam Hussein be removed from power.
The general peaceful atmosphere at the summit, however, was broken by an open UAE call for Saddam Hussein to step down, and by an attack by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafis against Saudi Arabia.
Crown Prince Abdullah, who led the Kingdoms delegation, threatened to withdraw from the conference after an angry exchange of words with the Libyan leader.
The summit, attended by leaders and officials from the 22 members of the Arab League, also decided to set up a committee that will explain the Arab position to international parties before going to Baghdad for talks with the Iraqi leadership.
The Arab leaders agreed on the complete rejection of a strike against Iraq, or threatening the security and safety of any Arab country, as a threat to the Arab national security, according to the communiqu? read out by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
They stressed that their countries refrain from participating in any military action that aims at the security, safety and territorial integrity of Iraq, the communiqu? added.
Saudi Arabia reiterated yesterday that it would have no part in an anticipated US-led war on Iraq and said a military conflict was not inevitable.
We have stated clearly that we will not take part in this war, and that is our position, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told Al-Arabiya satellite TV from Sharm El-Sheikh.
The controversial UAE proposal was made in the form of a message from President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahayan to the summit. The letter did not name Saddam but said the entire Iraqi leadership should step down and leave Iraq... within two weeks of adopting this Arab initiative.
Iraq should then be governed by the Arab League and the United Nations until it could return to its normal situation in accordance with the will of the brotherly Iraqi people. Sheikh Zayed said the Iraqi leadership should be given legal guarantees that it would not face prosecution.
The Iraqi delegation, led by Izzat Ibrahim, Saddams deputy, also threatened to leave the summit, but the proposal was withdrawn as a result of quick intervention by Egyptian and Libyan leaders.
Qaddafi criticized Saudi Arabia, in an impromptu speech, for the presence of US forces in the Kingdom.
He said when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, American forces started flowing into the Kingdom. I told King Fahd that American forces are moving into Saudi Arabia. He then replied America is a big country and we cannot prevent it and it can come. I told him: How can this happen to Saudi Arabia, which is an independent country? After that in a telephone conversation, the king told me that Iraq had intention to invade the Kingdom. I asked him how he knew. He said: We have seen the Iraqi forces deployed on the front. That means the Iraqi threat was a source of concern and threat for the Kingdom and all the Gulf states. America has pledged to protect this region because it is an important source of energy.
Here Prince Abdullah intercepted Qaddafis speech and said: Saudi Arabia is a front line country for the Muslim nation. It is not a colonial agent. Colonialists are for you and others. Who brought you to power? Dont say anything and dont interfere in matters in which you dont have any role. You are a liar. Your grave awaits you.
The Saudi delegation then prepared to leave the conference hall but following the intervention of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanese President Emile Lahud and others the delegation returned to the conference. The session was reconvened after a 20-minute break caused by the confusion.
Earlier in a press statement, Prince Abdullah warned that no country would be saved from the aftermath of the planned war on Iraq. Those who think otherwise are mistaken, he added.
The crown prince highlighted Saudi Arabias efforts to avert war. Because war with all its forms is a failure of values. In war the killer and killed are partners in the failure, he added.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri described the UAE proposal as US-inspired bilge and expressed satisfaction it was not even discussed at the summit. Saddam has said he would rather die than go into exile.
But UAE Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah ibn Zayed said the initiative had the backing of some Gulf states, and deplored the summits failure to discuss it as it could spare Iraq the torment of war.
The summits resolution was a compromise to satisfy both Iraq, which is backed by Syria, and the Gulf Arab states such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain which are hosting US troops massing for the threatened conflict.
Those states, which are bound by defense pacts with Washington, can now argue that, in the event of a war, they are not participating directly and that US forces operating from their soil are doing so under a UN mandate.
Following are the highlights of the summits resolutions:
* Arab states stress their firm refusal of a strike on Iraq, of any threat against the security and the territorial integrity of any Arab county, and stress the need to settle the Iraqi crisis peacefully.
* Call on all countries to back Arab efforts aimed at avoiding war through the full implementation by Iraq of UN Security Resolution 1441.
* Request that sufficient time be given to the (UN weapons) inspection teams in Iraq to complete their mission and call them to complete their mission objectively.
* Underscore the responsibility of the UN Security Council in preserving Iraqs independence and territorial integrity.
* Shall refrain from participating in any military action targeting the security or the territorial integrity of Iraq or any other country.
* State their solidarity with the Iraqi people and consider that the time has come to lift the embargo imposed on it.
* Task Bahrain, current chair of the summit, to set up an ad-hoc committee gathering the outgoing chair (Lebanon), the next chair (Tunisia), Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and all countries wishing to join.
* The committees mission will be to undertake contacts with international parties and to explain the Arab position, notably to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and to consult with the brotherly Iraqi government, in the framework of the resolutions of the Arab summit and to discuss ways to confront the serious challenges facing Iraq and Arab states.
* State that the Arab nations affairs and the development of its regimes is a question that can be decided by the peoples of the region only, far from any foreign interference. They denounce in this respect attempts to impose changes on the region and interference in its internal affairs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is No Future For the Arab League
Mohammed Alkhereiji, Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 2 March 2003 Saudi intellectuals and political commentators contacted by Arab News last night offered a wide array of opinions on the failed Arab League summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, but on one thing they all agreed: The Arabs are hopelessly divided.
They were speaking after the extraordinary public showdown between Crown Prince Abdullah and Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, during which the crown prince reacted angrily to accusations that the Kingdom was a US puppet.
Leading businessman Hussein Shobokshi in Jeddah called the meltdown a dose of reality.
There are too many lingering issues and priorities, he elaborated.
The real issue is not the pending war on Iraq, but reform of the Arab condition.
Asked about his thoughts on the future of the Arab League, he said: I dont see a future for the Arab world, let alone the Arab League.
Dawood Al-Shirian, the Riyadh-based Gulf chief of the leading pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, said that this was a repeat of the Arab League summit in 1990 before the last Gulf War.
The Arab worlds condition needs to be addressed and reformed, he told Arab News. There are too many Arab nations whose view on the current condition is out of date and out of step with reality.
Moderate nations like the Kingdom, he said, are concerned with the important issues like the aftermath of the war and the possible ramifications it might have on the people of Iraq.
These are the issues that should have been at the forefront of the Arab summit.
Asked to comment on the fact that Egyptian TV decided to cut the live feed when the crown prince and Qaddafi exchanged insults, he added: The Arabic media is run by government officials. They make these decisions without proper consideration of the consequences.
Tariq Al-Homayed, the Jeddah-based managing editor of Asharq Alawsat daily published from London, said that the summit had been destined to fail.
No one can stop this war except Saddam, he added. I think Qaddafis outburst was irresponsible. All I see is turmoil for the Arab League in the future.
A Jeddah-based former senior oil executive, who asked not to be identified, told Arab News: Qaddafis role as a perpetual spoiler at summit conferences is well documented. His role as a spoiler was tolerated in pervious summits, but it obviously was not tolerated by Saudi Arabia this time round.
The future of the Arab League is only as relevant as the members who make it up, he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kingdom Delays Submitting Internal Arab Reform Plan
Saudi Press Agency
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 2 March 2003 Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, announced yesterday that he was postponing the presentation of his major initiative for reforming the Arab condition until the next Arab summit scheduled to take place in Tunis.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told a press conference here that the crown prince decided to postpone the presentation in order to provide Arab leaders with more time to discuss the pressing issues of Iraq and Palestine.
The postponement, he said, would also help Arab countries study the document thoroughly.
The Arab reform document is credible, Prince Saud said, adding that Arab leaders must be convinced of its importance to translate the initiative into a reality.
Prince Abdullahs plan calls for more internal reforms and greater political participation in Arab countries. The document also rejects any illegal external aggression against any Arab state. It stipulates that Arab disputes must be resolved through peaceful means.
The initiative, which was to be presented at the present summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, urges Arabs to work earnestly toward the full implementation of a greater Arab free trade zone by the end of 2005 on the way to establishing an Arab customs union within 10 years.
Riyadh wants the Arab leaders to adopt the initiative in the form of a declaration, endorsing the new Arab charter as binding on all Arab states.
The initiative reiterates that the Arab peace plan, endorsed by the last Arab summit in Beirut, remains the minimum acceptable condition to establish normal ties with Israel.
Prince Saud said the crown prince came up with the new proposals in light of the worsening situation in the Arab region and the troubles being faced by Iraq and the Palestinian people.
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not a good day..
