 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Iraq's turn at the League
By Rasha SaadArab League officials announced this week that the regular foreign ministers meeting will be held on 12 September, a week later than the date announced earlier. The official explanation given by the Cairo-based Arab League secretariat for the delay is that a number of ministers had other commitments at that time.
However, Arab diplomatic sources said the delay was to allow more time to convince Arab Gulf countries to take part in the meeting despite their opposition to the fact that Iraq will chair this current round, according to the Arab League's internal charter. The charter states that the chairmanship of the two Arab foreign ministers' meetings which take place each year in March and September rotates among members according to Arabic alphabetical order. This year it is Iraq's turn.
Last year, Arab Gulf countries insisted that Somalia, which has had no central government since 1991, chair the meeting in order to prevent Iraq from taking over this position at a time when the confrontation was escalating between Iraq and the United States.
According to Arab diplomats, there are fears that a number of Gulf countries, especially Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, will either boycott the meetings or participate with a low-level delegation. If this happens, this round will certainly fail to reach a general consensus concerning important Arab issues, observers believe.
Gulf countries fear that Iraq will turn the upcoming foreign ministers meeting into a forum for verbal war with other Arab countries. Saudi Arabia backed Kuwait's stand and asked for the postponement of this year's meetings.
Gulf worries are based on the bitter exchange of accusations which took place between Iraq, on one side, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, on the other side, during an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers held earlier this year to discuss the latest US bombing of Iraq, code-named "Desert Fox", in late December. Iraq walked out of the meeting after Arab foreign ministers refused to condemn the US and British attack on Iraq. In that meeting, Iraq accused Kuwait and Saudi Arabia of being "collaborators" of Washington and called for the removal of their leaders.
Kuwait insists on boycotting any pan-Arab events in which Iraq takes part. The latest example was Kuwait's decision to boycott the Arab Games which are currently taking place in Amman, Jordan, due to the participation of Iraq.
However, Arab League officials denied that there was objection from any Arab country to attend the meeting or even indications that they would participate with a low-level delegation. The officials also played down the significance of the rescheduling of the meeting's date. According to Talaat Hamed, spokesman of the Arab League, "the rescheduling of the meeting is only an administrative measure that is concerned with the agenda of Arab foreign ministers."
According to Hamed, the original date of the meeting clashed with other important meetings. He named the extraordinary African summit that will be held in Libya and attended by eight Arab countries and the Francophone summit as examples. Libya announced this week that the summit will be held on 7 September.
An Arab League diplomat also pointed out that the postponement of the meetings was in the interest of the Arab countries concerned with the Arab-Israeli peace process. The original date clashed with the timing of the expected key visit of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the Middle East to help ease the stalled peace process.
In a similarly optimistic vein, there are reports that some Arab countries consider Iraq's chairmanship of this round an opportunity to overcome rifts and turn over a new leaf.
On the other hand, there are reports of two suggested scenarios to guarantee the participation of Gulf countries and ensure a successful meeting. The first scenario is that Arab officials convince Iraq to drop its turn and not to head this round of meetings in return for Arab guarantees to mediate and mend the rifts between Iraq and other Arab countries including the Gulf states. The second scenario is that Iraq will offer guarantees that it will commit itself to an objective and even-handed chairmanship and will avoid bringing up thorny issues during the meetings.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Ben Helli, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, said that the plight of the Iraqi people "which exceeds all limits and has drastically affected every Iraqi life, as well as the unity and security of the country" will be among the vital issues addressed in the secretary-general's report to the Arab foreign ministers. He also said that there are intentions to reactivate the seven-member committee concerned with lobbying around the world in order to lift the crippling sanctions
