Jordan Times
Monday, March 29, 2004
Jordan welcomes Egypt
offer, regrets summit postponement
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
Jordan on Sunday welcomed Egypt's offer to host
the Arab summit and regretted its postponement by Tunisia early yesterday.
His Majesty King Abdullah, who expressed his regret over the postponement,
telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and welcomed Cairo's offer to hold
the meeting, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Stressing the need to set a new date “as soon as possible,” the King said Jordan
will coordinate with other Arab countries to make the summit successful, Petra
said.
In Tunis, Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said the Egyptian offer was a positive
and required step that will help Arab states counter current “huge challenges.”
“Holding the summit is crucial and will help Arab countries face up to huge
challenges currently facing us,” Muasher said in brief remarks to journalists on
Sunday.
Tunisia early yesterday surprised Arab foreign ministers and indefinitely
postponed the Arab summit, which was scheduled in its capital on Monday, for
what it described as disagreements over proposed wide-ranging political reforms
in the Middle East and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Muasher said a summit in Egypt would be successful because Arab foreign
ministers, who met here over the past two days, have almost accomplished a
blueprint for political reforms in the Middle East.
Hours after Tunisia decided to postpone the summit, Egypt announced it was ready
to host the annual event as soon as the 22-member Arab League agree on a
specific date.
A statement issued by Mubarak's office criticised Tunisia for its decision,
saying the cited differences were “insufficient grounds for calling off the
summit.”
“As our nation, at this critical stage, faces challenges that we cannot ignore
or postpone, Egypt thinks it is necessary to convene this summit as early as
possible to discuss the issues,'' the statement read.
Tunisia issued a statement later Sunday reiterating that it reserved the right
to hold the summit on its soil, adding that the location of the summit was not
an issue of contention. It insisted that there were “deep differences” of
opinion over “core issues of Arab interest,” including aspired democratic
reforms, and the restructuring of the league.
Arab countries were hoping to endorse political and social reforms, introduce
substantial changes to the league and its system of operations, and inject life
into the Arab peace initiative, launched in the 2002 Beirut summit and called
for normalising ties with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from all
territory occupied in the 1967 war.
Muasher, who earlier expressed regret at the sudden decision and called for a
quick agreement of a new date and place, noted the importance of reaching a
unified Arab stance over the worsening Palestinian-Israeli issue, aggravated by
Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin last week.
He said Arab countries need to exert maximum efforts to ensure the establishment
of an independent Palestinian state, and guarantee that any unilateral
withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories is carried out in line with
the roadmap and the Arab peace initiative.
The unprecedented move to call off the summit was a result of what observers
described as Tunisia's frustration over the growing differences between foreign
ministers, especially on the political reform issue, as well as the low-level
representation of Arab leaders in the summit. Differences emerged between
ministers on Thursday, and it was reported that at least six Arab leaders would
not attend the summit. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was quoted as
saying Friday that at least four or five of the 22 league members opted for
postponing the meeting to allow for more thorough preparations. The possibility
of postponement gained weight after some Arab leaders announced they would not
attend. Among them was Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, and Bahrain's Sheikh Hamad
Ben Issa Al Khalifa.
Unconfirmed news spread over the absence of leaders from Qatar, Kuwait, Libya
and Egypt.
In statements early Sunday, Tunisian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Hatem Ben Salem expressed his government's deep regrets for postponing the
summit at “which the Arab public and international community pinned high hopes,”
especially during such delicate circumstances and recent tragic developments on
the Palestinian issue.
The statement said the decision to postpone the summit stemmed from “difference
of views” that emerged during the meetings of Arab foreign ministers on Friday
and Saturday. It cited differences over proposals Tunisia presented and
considered as “substantial and of great importance to the process of
development, modernisation and reform in Arab countries.”
Another statement issued later by the Tunisian news agency said Tunis was
bothered that the initial reform document did not “mention democracy ... and the
fight against terrorism.”
But Arab diplomats said the foreign ministers — who were shocked at the “abrupt
and unexplainable” declaration — had reached a stand on Arab reforms when the
announcement was made. They insisted that remarks and amendments proposed by
Tunisia were included in the document by a recently appointed drafting
committee.
An ad hoc committee was assigned with merging several reform documents presented
by countries. According to diplomats, Saturday evening's meeting witnessed
consensus by all parties, including Tunisia, concerning the final draft of the
reform blueprint.
The reforms are regarded as part of Arab governments' attempts to abort a
recently launched US plan for reforms in the region.
Washington's “Greater Middle East Initiative,” expected to be presented to the
G-8 meeting in June, stipulates that the absence of democracy and human rights
in some countries in the area could serve as a fertile ground for terrorists.
One diplomat said Arab states should realise the urgency in agreeing on their
reforms before they are imposed from the outside.
Reform plans, however, were complicated by Israel's assassination of Sheikh
Yassin. The killing was seen as part of Israel's attempts to ruin the summit and
embarrass Arab leaders.
The “stormy” preparatory meetings witnessed differences amongst Arab delegates
over several matters including the priority of issues on the summit's agenda.
Other diplomats said Tunisia was withholding the real reasons behind its
cancellation, the first since 1983.
According to observers, Arab governments feared that holding a summit at such a
time would reflect their ineffectiveness in influencing major regional events
such as the situation in Iraq and the Palestinians territories.
The Saudi press said the summit was doomed to fail, if some Arab states keep
blocking peace and reform plans.