22 - 28 March 2001
Issue No.526
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 March 2001 Issue No.526 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
New strategy in Amman?
Speaking only a few days before the Arab summit in Amman, Palestinian Foreign Minister Farouk Qaddoumi told Sherine Bahaa from his headquarters in Tunis he was hopeful that Arab leaders will strongly back the Palestinians' stance
Following the recent US-British strike against Iraq, do you think that this issue will dominate discussions at the Amman summit at the expense of the Palestinian Intifada?
Palestinian Foreign Minister Farouk Qaddoumi
Iraq issued a declaration during the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo last week, confirming that the Palestinian cause should top the agenda of the Amman summit. Iraq's foreign minister, as well as other Gulf participants, reiterated that they would not open the Iraqi issue to lengthy discussions. However, intensive efforts are under way behind closed doors to reach... a reconciliation between Kuwait and Iraq. In fact, both parties [Iraq and the Gulf states] showed enough flexibility to leave ample time for discussions of the two main subjects in Amman: supporting the Palestinian Intifada and the current stalemate in the peace process.
Palestinians bitterly complained during last week's Arab League meeting that they were not receiving any of the financial support they were promised at the Cairo emergency summit in October. How was the atmosphere behind closed doors?
We actually pointed to the paralysed mechanism [approved by Arab leaders to deliver 1 billion dollars to support the Intifada] which prevents the delivery of any of the promised funds. We insisted on changing this mechanism. [Arab leaders refused to give the money directly to the Palestinian Authority and said the money should be channelled through the Islamic Development Bank to finance specific projects].
We also determined the minimum amounts that should be delivered on a monthly basis to support the Intifada. We made it clear that it was totally inappropriate for the Arabs to decrease the figures they agreed on at the Cairo summit.
In the meantime, we explained to Arab ministers that these funds are not intended to cover Palestinian Authority expenses, as those expenses are mostly covered by European aid and other sources.
Some Arab countries have attributed the delay in sending the agreed-upon funds to reports of corruption, both administrative and financial, inside the Palestinian Authority (PA). How did you answer these claims?
We reiterated that the resolutions adopted by the Arab summit last October were mainly to support the steadfastness of the Palestinians and to defend Jerusalem. This, we appreciate very much. But do they have any other means to deliver the funds to those who deserve it, apart from the PA?
We are not defending the PA but if they want to establish committees to assure transparency and accountability, we can agree to that. We can also present them with reports on how the money was spent, or if they want, they can deliver it themselves to those who really need it. Even if the PA is fragile, it is our only leadership. The occupation did not give the Authority the chance to develop and become a full-fledged entity, since our economy is actually crippled by the Israeli occupation.
What exactly do you expect from the Arab summit beginning Tuesday in Amman?
We want a reassessment of all that took place on all tracks of the peace process. We have to agree on our future Arab strategy. Are we going to continue with peace as our strategy or we will shift to that of deterrence?
We will insist on tightening the siege on Israel and obliging all the countries that deal with or support Israel to halt their support. This could be achieved through collective pressure by Arab countries and making use of the cards they hold in their hands. The top card is the supply of oil. We are not calling for a halt in oil supply, but only for decreasing the amounts of oil exported to those countries [which support Israel]. We have to keep in mind that the lack of such action will infuriate Arab public opinion -- which in turn might endanger Western interests in the region, like what happened to the American Navy carrier, the USS Cole, in Yemen.
We do not favour such actions, but we are saying that failure to pressure Israel into respecting its peace agreements with Arab countries increases tension in the region.
Secondly, lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq is a very crucial item for the Amman summit. The Arabs should have learnt the lesson from the second Gulf War. It is time to know that Arab security is a whole.
There have been increasing reports of a possible reconciliation meeting between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the new leadership in Syria. When can we expect such a meeting to take place?
During the Arab summit in Amman there is going to be a Palestinian-Syrian summit. This summit is the result of intensive efforts on our part, together with those of Egypt [and are also a result of] the situation inside the occupied territories being back to square one. The argument about the Oslo agreement is over now because Oslo itself has failed.
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