Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Prince Ali leads delegation to Arab-Latin summit
BRASILIA (Agencies) — HRH Prince Ali arrived here
on Monday to take part at a summit of South American and Arab nations.
Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah, Prince Ali will today address the
two-day summit, aimed at bringing the two distant regions closer together, the
Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Jordan's delegation groups the King's Adviser Akel Biltaji, Minister of Culture
Asma Khader, Foreign Minister Farouq Qasrawi, Minister of Industry and Trade
Sharif Zu'bi, and Kingdom's Ambassador to Brazil Fares Mufti. Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, will make his first foray onto the world stage
Tuesday at the summit.
Arab diplomatic sources in Brasilia told AFP the United States had pressured
several countries to stay away after the hosts turned down a US request for
observer status at the summit. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
and the heads of state from Algeria, Djibouti and Qatar will also be present to
thank Brazil's socialist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for holding the
summit.
"I would have liked to see greater Arab participation at the summit," Arab
League Secretary General Amr Musa acknowledged. But he insisted the summit would
become a regular event. The United States is closely watching the summit as the
final declaration includes a clause, critical of Israel, that will call for the
dismantling of all Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,
according to a draft copy obtained by AFP. Israel is to pull out from the Gaza
Strip and part of West Bank this year.
Israel is said to be concerned by the summit statement, but Musa said Monday:
"Their worries don't concern me." Participants are also expected to express
opposition to Washington's sanctions against Syria and stress "the right for
states and peoples to resist foreign occupation" and the need to "respect Iraq's
territorial unity, independence and sovereignty." Trade issues will also be
tackled, although Argentina has aired reservations about Lula da Silva's push
for increased south-south exchanges, noting that it could come at the expense of
other markets. Arab countries hope that South America will back Egypt's demands
for a permanent seat in any reformed UN Security Council. Brazil, in turn, wants
Arab support.
But Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, whose country is the most populated in the
region, has delegated Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit to represent him at the
summit. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah and Morocco's King Mohammed VI, who
was received in great pomp in Brasilia last year, have both turned down the
invitation.
Tunisia's President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali and Libyan President Muammar Qadhafi
are also shunning the summit, along with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Committees of experts from the two sides will be set up in a bid to improve
trade between the two regions, officials said. Brazilian diplomats say they hope
negotiations will move forward during the summit on a proposed $450 million
Libyan investment in irrigation projects for Brazil's northeastern Bahia state.
Two-way trade between Brazil and Arab countries — with exports and imports
balanced — totaled $8.1 billion in 2004 — a near 50 per cent increase compared
to the previous year, according to Brazilian estimates.