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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Plans finalised for Euro-African summit
By Dina Ezzat
There were two main procedural matters that needed to be settled to give the all-clear for the European-African summit scheduled to open on 4 April in Cairo.
A joint diplomatic effort by Egypt and the European Union (EU) dotted the i's and crossed the t's last week. Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama visited Algeria and Morocco and settled a row over the name of the summit that was agreed upon by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1998 on the basis of a proposal by Portugal, the current chair of the EU. Also settled during this visit was the duration of the summit.
The summit, all parties now agree, will be held under the name "European-African Cairo Summit" and underneath this name there will be a line saying "Initiated by the Organisation of African Unity and the European Union."
This formula gives credit to the OAU, as its current chair Algeria insisted, and dilutes the political compromise for the participation of King Mohamed of Morocco whose country had suspended its membership in the OAU over its recognition of the Western Sahara as an independent state despite Rabat's claim to it as Moroccan territory.
Moreover, according to the rules set under this name Morocco would not have to be excluded from the follow-up mechanism. The EU was very supportive of the Moroccan participation. According to diplomatic sources, the EU almost threatened not to have the summit if Morocco did not take part. Morocco would not have agreed to attend had it not been for a recent decision the Western Sahara to absent itself.
"Now the Algerians are pleased and so are the Moroccans. We are expecting to see both Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika and the king of Morocco in the Cairo International Conference Centre on 4 April," said an Egyptian diplomat.
Algeria and Morocco have been locked in a long dispute over the Western Sahara that is recognised, and according to Rabat supported, by the Algerian government. Egypt tried to mediate last summer between the two Northern African states but this effort was not pursued much after the death of King Hassan.
In accordance with the Algerian request the summit will not be a one-time event. Every three years there will be a European-African summit. And to further avoid all sensitivities, it was decided that three sets of invitations will be issued to the participants: Egypt, in its capacity as the host, will be sending out invitations to all including Morocco, Algeria in its capacity as the chair of the OAU will be sending invitations to all OAU member states, and Portugal, the current chair of the EU, will be sending out invitations to all EU members.
The opening and closing sessions of the summit will be co-chaired by President Hosni Mubarak and the presidents of Algeria and Portugal.
The summit will have three sets of issues to work on: socio-economic, political and developmental.
Originally the EU wanted the summit to have a political focus but the OAU insisted that there was no point in having the summit if Africa was not allowed to discuss its most acute problem: foreign debt and the need for aid.
This said, one source suggested, "It is unlikely that the EU will be pledging an aid budget for Africa at this summit."
