Arab- American summit held in Sharm Esh Sheikh today
Regional-USA, Politics, 6/3/2003

The Arab- American summit will be held today at Sharm Esh Sheikh resort on the Red Sea in the presence of 6 Arab states. Beside USA President George Bush, the summit will be attended by five Arab leaders: President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Saudi ArabiaÕs Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Jordanian King Abdullah II, The King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas. However, the Moroccan Monarch will be absent.

This summit comes prior to an American, Israeli and Palestinian summit to be held in the Jordanian al-Aqaba city.

Egyptian official sources said that the Sharm Esh Sheikh summit will discuss the Middle East peace process and means of implementing the so-called Roadmap.

According to the same source, the summit will also discuss the situation in Iraq, fighting what is called terrorism and economic cooperation between the Arab states and the USA.

The Sharm Esh Sheikh Summit, and the later al- Aqaba summit, are expected to showcase the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas in which he will replace the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the summit, in response to the American and Israeli pressures.

News reports at Sharm Esh Shiekh resort said that the Egyptian authorities had taken strong security measures in preparation for this summit, noting that the resort witnessed earlier similar meetings and security was maintained.

The news reports indicated that the American President comes to the summit with three files "the first pertains the Roadmap and an American commitment to implement it. The second pertains to the relations between Washington and Riyadh in light of recent tensions, while the third file related to the Iraqi issue, Iran and supporting what is called terrorism."

In the same context, the Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri stressed that there are no contacts with Syria and Lebanon to join the Sharm Esh Sheikh Summit. He added that it is clear that there is a clear intention for that summit in which Beirut and Damascus have no role to play at the meantime.

On the other hand, the secretary general of the Hizbullah Party Hassan Nasrullah strongly criticized this summit saying that "it aims at improving the image of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon."

Previous Stories:
  Egypt seeks firm commitment from Israel to peace   (6/2/2003)
  Maher: Egypt has US assurances sticking to roadmap   (5/31/2003)
  New York Times: US, Arab leaders summit   (5/27/2003)
  Bush visits Qatar, Kuwait after Europe and Russia; tripartite summit of Bush, Abu Mazin and Sharon in Geneva   (5/23/2003)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search