Maghreb obstacles hinder Arab follow-up committee
Iraq-Regional, Politics, 3/5/1999

Well informed Syrian sources in Damascus said that preparations for the meeting of the follow-up committee of the Arab League ministerial council to be held on Sunday in Damascus had been continued until Thursday, despite doubts raised by Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on convening the meeting.

The Syrian sources admitted to "obstacles" before the committee, mainly the inability to convince any of the Maghreb states to attend the meeting, as stated in the decision that set up the committee in the resolution adopted by the AL ministerial council held in Cairo.

The Syrian sources continued that despite the intensive contacts held with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, the three states kept committed to their stand in refusing to attend the meeting under the pretext of being involved.

Western diplomatic sources stated that the refusal of the Arab Maghreb states to attend the meeting came as a reaction to the attempts made by Middle Eastern Arab states to marginalize them in all important meetings which form a positive Arab front including the tripartite meetings which included Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria and the al-Ghardaqa meeting, which in addition to the three said countries, included Oman, and Yemen.

The Western diplomatic sources in Damascus added that the unreadiness of these Arab Maghreb states to attend the meeting is attributable to their unwillingness to be dragged into a conflict they are far from.

The Western sources added that Morocco's refusal, for instance, is attributed to the fact that it does not want to be in feud with the US in its voting to lift the sanctions imposed on Iraq, at a time when Rabat needs support on the question of the Western Sahara, which will be voted for by the UN Security Council.

Previous Stories:
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  AL follow-up committee to meet in Damascus   (3/3/1999)
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