Euro-Med partners, foreign ministers meet
Regional-Europe Union, Politics, 3/25/1998

The foreign ministers of the Arab member states in the Mediterranean - European participation held a meeting today in the headquarters of the Algerian embassy, headed by Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, the chairman of the Arab side in the participation, as well as foreign ministers from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia, the chairman of Libya and Mauritania's delegations and the secretary-general of the Arab League.

Attaf said after the meeting that exchange of views took place regarding political, security, economic and humanitarian issues.

Attaf said there are current restrictions regarding participation in the meetings and complaints about the focus of the Europeans on the issues of drugs, immigration and the criminal regulations, to the detriment of political issues such as of the Middle East peace process which has of a general and comprehensive effect on security and stability in the Mediterranean area.

Regarding Arab satisfaction with the European role in the peace process, he asked does it make sense to talk about security issues in the Mediterranean without mentioning Arab involvement in the Israeli - Arab conflict?

Amr Moussa, the Egyptian foreign minister, stated that the meetings focused on the coming preliminary meeting an conference participation in June in Italy.

Fares Boueiz, the Lebanese Foreign Minister, confirmed that a coordinating meeting for the Arab Mediterranean countries will be held in Beirut at the end of May in order to prepare a joint Arab working paper to be presented at the Palermo meeting.

Previous Stories:
  Tunis hosts Europe - Maghreb security, cooperation symposium   (3/11/1998)
  Mediterranean group in Luxor today   (2/5/1998)
  Arab League for fostering Euro-Arab partnership   (1/9/1998)

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