On the Damascus Israel's boycott meeting

Damascus has renewed its demands to the Arab states to maintain direct and indirect boycott of Israel, stressing that the failure of the peace process which resulted in freezing many of the Israeli- boycott offices in the Arab states prove the importance of such a boycott.

This was expressed at the beginning of the meeting of the " experts team concerned" concerning the boycott in Damascus with the participation of 13 Arab states and the absence of nine Arab states including those who sign peace agreements with Israel or having liaison offices with it. They are Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Mauritania, Oman, Morocco as well as Bahrain, Djibouti and Comoros.

In the close door meeting, the director of the Syrian regional office for the boycott of Israel Muhammad al- Ajami called for the need of " reviving work by the processes of indirect and direct boycott," considering that there is no difference between the two matters and simultaneously stressed that this falls in the course of " implementing the resolutions of the Arab summit and the Arab ministerial meeting."

Al-Ajami, who occupies the post of the regional director of the Syrian office since 1974 said that the absence of nine Arab states from the meeting " is not an indication for the failure of this meeting or its success" and justified that by the " special conditions of every state." He stressed that what will be concluded by the meeting will be submitted to the council of the AL, where decisions abiding all sides are taken.

The Arab states participating in the meeting are Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, the UAE, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Somalia.

According to the work paper of the meeting, the mission of the boycott offices is to prevent Israel from " invading Arab markets" and " preventing any possible dealing with boycott companies." The paper also states " to disclose the operations of re-exporting the Israeli commodities to the Arab states under false names of companies with the aim to invade their markets." Meantime, the Syrian daily al-Baath said on Sunday the " the boycott is that last ( Arab) weapon in the confrontation with Israel."