Arab and untenable American pressure - on Doha
Regional, Politics, 8/18/1997

Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and the United Arab Emirates have announced they will boycott the fourth Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economic summit--due to be held in Qatar in November--if Israel is represented.

Doha is resisting Arab calls, particularly from Damascus, to call off the conference, at least in the present circumstances, under the pretext that it is being subjected to untenable American pressure.

Syria and Lebanon, which with Iraq and Libya stayed away from the three previous MENA summits, have also said they would boycott the controversial Doha event. Egypt and the other Arab countries have been waiting for any progress that could happen in softening the right-wing Israeli government's strict stands.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Madleine Albright announced that her first-ever visit to the Middle East as secretary of state will be to head the American delegation to the economic conference scheduled to the held in Doha, Qatar, with the participation of an important Israeli delegation.

That, while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu stands firm in his hard-line response as a result of the Jerusalem suicide bombings, imposing crippling sanctions on Palestinians, saying that whoever carried out the attack had to have support, most likely from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.

Netanyahu also bluntly warned Arafat that if he fails to honor his commitment under signed peace agreements to crack down on violent militants, Israel will renounce the accords and possibly send troops back into Palestinian zones.

To save what remains of the Middle East peace process, America sent its Middle East troubleshooter Dennis Ross, who did not achieve any real success in reviving the Israeli Palestinian dialogue.

All sides admitted that no progress had been made, and Ross left the region saying that it will be up to Madline Albright to judge if sufficient progress on the security front is being made to warrant a personal mission to tackle such tough issues as Jewish settlement construction, disputed areas and Palestinian hopes of creating their own state.

But some analysts say that "it's very difficult to push any progress, at least, until next November, in the Middle East people process. In the face of this American Israeli challenge, Arab parties should adopt a more united stand. So far they have failed to do so."

Previous Stories:
  Saudi Arabia and Yemen to US: No Doha, because of Israel   (8/18/1997)
  Emirates decides to boycott Doha economic conference   (8/8/1997)
  Arab League to decide on MENA conference in September   (8/7/1997)

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