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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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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 Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons 'Words into action'
Arab foreign ministers begin arriving in Beirut today for an unprecedented Arab League conference outside its Cairo headquarters, a high-level demonstration of solidarity with Lebanon in the face of Israeli aggressions.
Regional and world powers, particularly Israel and the US, are keeping a close watch on the conference, to be held on Saturday-Sunday, to see if it will be successful in reviving Arab solidarity.
One reason for Israeli-American concern is that the conference should not be projected as a declaration of support for the Hizbullah resistance movement, which they consider as terrorist.
Another reason for their concern is that Iran, the current chair of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), was originally invited to attend as an observer. But pressure by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is involved in a dispute with Iran over three Gulf islands, succeeded in its exclusion. Instead, the OIC will be represented by Secretary-General Azeddine Laraki, a Moroccan.
"Egypt believes that the Beirut meeting is very important because it conveys very significant messages," said Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, who will arrive in the Lebanese capital on Friday evening.
One of these messages is that while the Arabs are ready to close the dossier on 50 years of conflict with Israel, they are not at all prepared to settle for a bad deal or make peace while an Arab country is being bombarded.
It is widely expected that the meeting will issue a declaration of solidarity with the Lebanese people, but it is unlikely to make any direct allusions to Hizbullah. The declaration will affirm Lebanon's right to regain full sovereignty over its territory. "The Lebanese have asked the Arab League for a declaration of strong support and they will be getting it," said a League source.
The meeting comes less than a week after the Israeli cabinet decided to withdraw from southern Lebanon by July, a decision that has raised many questions.
"It could be that Israel is planning to unilaterally withdraw from southern Lebanon to put pressure on Syria in their stalemated talks and confuse the Lebanese government which will be forced to take a decision on the future of Hizbullah," commented one Arab diplomat.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in a departure from earlier optimism, cast doubts on the chances of overcoming differences with Syria and forging an agreement over the Golan Heights.
In a blunt warning that coincided with Barak's remarks, Beirut said Israel should not expect peace from a troop pullout from southern Lebanon until it also withdrew from the Golan.
"Lebanon is not ready to guarantee the comfort of Israel by performing the role that Israel itself has failed to perform since invading Lebanon in 1982," President Emile Lahoud said in a statement.
Meanwhile Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah said the movement will continue its armed struggle in southern Lebanon until the last Israeli soldier has left the region. Underscoring this pledge, Hizbullah guerrillas killed two pro-Israeli militiamen on Tuesday in their first attacks since Israel's decision to pull out its troops by July.
Reviving Arab solidarity will be high on the agenda of the Arab foreign ministers meeting, which will discuss a proposal put forward by Yemen and supported by Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid to organise an Arab summit on an annual basis.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Syria are reportedly cool about the proposal, the first two being unwilling to deal with Iraq, while Syria has little interest in coordinating closely with the Palestinians on regional peace-making. But a possible compromise would be for the ministerial meeting to issue a recommendation to the next Arab summit -- whenever this is held -- to consider a resolution on the annual convention of a summit.
The Beirut meeting comes at a time when the peace process, in Moussa's words, "is at the crossroads". If things do not pick up "within the coming few months, it will be clear that there is only one Israeli policy, irrespective of who is governing," Moussa said.
Whatever arrangements were made earlier this year, when the region was more hopeful about peace prospects, will be suspended until the situation becomes clear. These arrangements, Moussa revealed on Tuesday, include the MENA conference Cairo had agreed to host providing progress towards peace was maintained.
The Beirut meeting, suggested by Abdel-Meguid following last month's Israeli attacks, was unanimously approved by the League's 22 member-states.
Lebanese officials welcomed the show of Arab support. A senior source at the Lebanese foreign ministry said that Beirut had requested an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers following Israeli attacks on Lebanese power stations "but holding an extraordinary meeting would have upset many parties and, therefore, the League decided to hold its regular spring session in Beirut to show Arab solidarity".
Despite the fact that Washington has already contacted Arab allies in an attempt to forestall any decisions that might upset Israel and, consequently, jeopardise the already deadlocked peace talks, the source revealed that "there seems to be an Arab insistence on showing that they firmly stand by Lebanon. Some Arab officials believe that this meeting is a test for Israel and will show if it is really serious about making peace".
Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, while welcoming the decision to have the meeting in Beirut, expressed the hope that the meeting would not result in words only. "We expect words to be turned into action," he said.
Dina Ezzat and Rasha Saad in Cairo, Ranwa Yehia in Beirut, Wire dispatches
