The 15th Arab summit, a one-day meeting on the Iraq crisis held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh last weekend, concluded its work by calling for a peaceful outcome to the crisis, setting up a special Arab committee to intervene directly with all sides. Al-Ahram Weekly staff were there
Swan-song for Arab unity
With the Arab representatives at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit appearing to speak different languages, the region might already be going through profound changes even before a war against Iraq, writes Amira Howeidy
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FACES OF THE SUMMIT (clockwise from top left): President Mubarak and Bahrain's King Bin Eissa; Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Sharaa'; Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Libyan leader Gaddafi during a row which was aired live on television
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"Gaddafi did it! He threw it in their faces and taught them a lesson!" cried the young man who works in a bazaar in Sharm El-Sheikh as he rushed next door to break the news to his friends. The afternoon quiet in Na'ma Bay's popular promenade was broken not only by the now loud TV volume but by the excitement that filled the air as the news spread. Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel-Aziz had just had a row, which was being aired live on TV.
When his turn came to deliver his speech at the 15th Arab Summit last Saturday in the coastal Red Sea resort, the Libyan leader offered a political analysis of the Iraq crisis. He said that after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he had called Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and enquired about information he had received about US forces pouring into the kingdom. The king, according to Gaddafi, said, "America is a big country, and if it is going in, who can stop it?"
Elaborating further on how the rich Gulf states, apprehensive of the repercussions of the Islamic revolution in Iran, supported Saddam in his war against that country, and how later on being threatened by Saddam they invited the Americans to protect their interests, he went on to say: "America is committed to protecting this region because this region is a very important source of energy."
At this point Gaddafi was interrupted by an angry Prince Abdullah who waved his index finger saying, "Saudi Arabia is a Muslim Arab country, not an agent of imperialism like you and others. Who brought you to power? Don't talk about things you have no luck or fortune in."
The shocked faces of other Arab leaders clearly contrasted with Gaddafi's grins, but the live transmission was cut off at this point, leaving summit watchers in the nearby press centre or at the promenade flabbergasted.
Later, parts of the censored footage were aired on various Arab satellite channels, where Gaddafi was seen responding to the Saudi crown prince by saying "if it wasn't for the Gulf [countries] there wouldn't be US forces there now -- the problem is an Arab-Arab one, not an Iraqi-Arab one."
The row, which snowballed into a diplomatic crisis with both the Saudi and Libyan delegations threatening to withdraw from the summit, extended to the Libyan streets where thousands went out on anti-Saudi demonstrations in the evening. Two days later, Libya recalled its ambassador to Riyadh and followed this move by the bold announcement of withdrawing -- yet again -- from the Arab League.
The Libyan leader, who remained in Cairo until Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, gave an interview to the state-owned Egyptian TV on Tuesday, in which he said that if the US waged a war on Iraq, it would eventually "perish, but before that happens, the agents of imperialism [in the Arab world] will perish first."
Judging by the summit's resolutions, the Arabs seemed united, but only in one thing: "rejecting a war on Iraq or on any Arab country". But this unity seemed to end there. Not only did the UAE initiative -- supported by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and later by the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting on Monday -- expose the gap between the Gulf countries and the rest of the Arab world in handling the Iraqi crisis, it also ushered in a new Arab discourse that has been in the making for some time.
This new Gulf discourse is not shy about announcing its interests and policies towards the Iraqi crisis or its relations with the US. The impressive Gulf TV news channels that set precedents in professional standards in reporting and free speech in the region, such as Jazeera, MBC or the recently launched Al-Arabia, are leading and shaping Arab public opinion. On the other side, those who adopt a more Ba'thist-Nationalist anti-American discourse, seem to stand out as the 'hardliners'.
The Saudi-Libyan brawl is thus indicative of Arab politics today, with Gaddafi and Abdullah representing two extreme poles. Behind Saudi Arabia stands Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. "Gone is the age of compliments" read the headline of the Saudi-funded and London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Monday, referring to what it described as Gaddafi's "exhausted slogans".
For the Gulf countries, which host some 200,000 US-UK troops and sophisticated military equipment, adopting a pragmatic "realistic" approach to the Iraq crisis and the US military presence in the region means taking up "daring" stands such as the controversial proposal to oust Saddam.
Although no Arab country stands behind Gaddafi, whose talk only won the applause of the Egyptian street, his regime is placed in the category of the remaining Ba'thist- dominated countries such as Syria and Yemen, and of course, Iraq. The discourse of these countries is anti-American, pan-Arab and nationalistic, offering no practical solutions.
To many observers, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's improvised speech at the summit is the perfect illustration of this discourse. The young president who took over after the death of his father, Hafez Al-Assad, three years ago, offered yet another analysis of the situation that was more or less in line with Gaddafi's, if more eloquent.
Stressing that he was not departing from an "emotional" or "romantic" position, Al- Assad said that the US wanted the Arabs to legitimate and facilitate a war on Iraq. "Some Arabs, not foreigners, think that the problem lies in President Saddam or the Iraqi regime," he argued. "If this is really the problem I think it is our duty to send a delegation to ask the [Iraqi] regime to sacrifice in order to save the country and the entire region. But we all know this is not the issue. We all know what masks have been used."
The "masks" first came in the form of the return of inspectors issue, then in the form of implementing UN Security Council Resolutions, followed by the weapons of mass destructions issue, and then regime change. "Then they entertained us with the issue of democracy, then human rights and now they are promising development achieved by war. All these are American masks to deceive the world."
But the issue was oil and "redrawing the map to suit them, and, of course, Israel", Al-Assad said. The issue was "destroying [Iraq's] infrastructure, and I do not mean labs and missiles.. they want a nation with a beating heart but without a brain."
His talk -- or what some observers described as a lecture -- made two proposals: that Arab countries hosting US troops and military bases should refrain from facilitating any aggression on Iraq or on any Arab country and that a committee formed of the current, former and coming heads of the Arab Summits (Lebanon, Bahrain and Tunisia) should be established to relay the decisions of this summit to other countries and to Iraq.
The Syrian president described all Israelis as "Sharons" and reiterated the call for Arab countries to boycott Israel "until it shows a commitment to peace".
The Arab summit went on to adopt Al-Assad's two proposals, pleasing the Iraqis, and the thwarting of the UAE initiative for regime change was another Iraqi victory. Critics, however, argue that Iraqi victory at the summit will be short-lived.
The UAE's information minister, walking in the direction of some 500 journalists covering the summit immediately after its closure, announced, in perfect American English, that his country's initiative was supported "on the record" by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. "We [also] got support off record from other countries, but unfortunately they do not want to discuss it on camera. All the Arabs agree that Saddam should go, but none have the courage to say it publicly," he said.
Two days later, the GCC summit in Doha backed the UAE's initiative. It was also due to be proposed at yesterday's Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Doha.
Other delegates shrugged off the resolution that bans the use of US military bases and other military facilities in a war against Iraq as unrealistic, especially given the tens of thousands of US and British troops that now virtually occupy the Gulf region.
Yet, the majority of Arab leaders, stuck between American demands and their people's anger, could not but cater for the hardliners at this stage. "All the Arab countries wish to avoid antagonising the US and even Kuwait," said Hassan Nafaa, head of the Political Science Department at Cairo University, who attended the summit. "Egypt, for example, is in a very difficult position. It is trying to reduce the gap between the official position and popular sentiments."
Two days before the summit, the Egyptian government allowed the first massive anti-war demonstration to take place in the Cairo stadium. By doing so, observers say, it helped people vent some of their frustration and also sent a message to the US to ease its pressure lest things get out of control. At the same time, Egypt is not taking sides with either the hardliners or the pro-American Gulf position.
Ironically, according to Mahfouz El-Ansari, head of the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA), "even the 'hardliners' are offering all possible assistance to the Americans, but they cannot say that to their people."
Despite the different languages spoken by the Arab leaders at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, a clear message reached the man in the street outside. For Omar, who works in the coffee shop of the Sheraton hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh that hosted the Arab foreign ministers meeting before the summit, "whatever they say, I doubt the Arabs will ever offer any concrete solutions."
