Arab foreign ministers start preparations for the postponed summit
Regional, Politics, 5/7/2004

The Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo tomorrow ( Saturday) to discuss final preparations for the long waited Arab summit.

Sources at the Arab League (AL) said that most of the ministers will attend the meetings during which they will discuss the agenda of the summit which is expected to be held in Tunisia on May 22 and 23. Sources at the AL quoted its secretary general Amr Moussa as saying that there is no " dispute over the date and place for convening the summit." The Arab foreign ministers will be meeting as from Saturday at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo in order to prepare draft resolutions which will be submitted to the Arab summit in Tunisia especially those that pertain to Iraq and the Arab- Israeli conflict.

The Arab foreign ministers will continue their discussions from where they were halted before Tunisia had decided in the last moment to postpone the summit which was due on Tunisia on March 29 and 30, justifying its decision by having deep differences among the Arab states over democratic reforms in the Middle East.

The ministers will discuss two draft resolutions on Iraq and the Arab- Israeli conflict. Two files which had witnessed important developments during the two past months. The Palestinians will propose a draft resolution calling on the Arabs not to agree any of the items of the plan proposed by the Israeli prime minister to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza and certain parts in the West Bank. A plan which was supported by the US President George W. Bush.

The Iraqi delegation will submit a draft resolution asking for an Arab support to transfer the authority to the Iraqi people by the end of June and it is also expected to ask for an Arab military and security presence on the ground beside the coalition forces.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak calls for honoring the Iraqis: The summit will set a strategy for reforms   (5/6/2004)
  Moussa is pleased over the summit, rejects American reforms   (5/5/2004)
  International and Arab human rights organizations Sit-in in Beirut   (5/5/2004)

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

Search