Moussa: Tunis announces today its position concerning hosting the summit
The secretary general of the Arab League (AL) Amr Moussa announced that Tunisia will announce today its position concerning the issue of convening the next Arab summit on its lands.
Moussa who made on Wednesday a sudden visit to Tunisia to settle the difference over convening the Arab summit in the second half of March said in a press conference "Tunisia will announce today its position and notifies the position to the AL chief the same day."
Moussa stressed it is important that results of the summit will be positive because opposite to that will result in more risks for the Arabs. He said that "all conditions indicate the importance that the summit will conclude something positive and the opposite will inflict great damages on the Arab world."
Reports said that Tunisia was hesitant in hosting the rotating summit it presides for this year because of inter- Arab differences. Arab diplomats said that summit conference is expected to discuss points of disputes like improving the Arab League, including the idea of giving wider authorities for a small group of main Arab states, besides taking a joint Arab position concerning the occupation of Iraq, the Palestinian issue and the American campaign to spread democracy in the Middle East.
An Arab official close to Moussa said that the Tunisian President "informed the secretary general on Tunisia's hosting of the summit," while the Egyptian Middle East News Agency MENA said " it is almost evident to convene the next Arab summit in its due date to be held in Tunisia." The Arab official said " the reason behind Tunisia's hesitation to host the summit is the developments in the region, including the occupation of Iraq, and the increased terrorism in the region." Conditions now are different from the time when Tunisia asked for hosting the Arab summit in 2003. He added that Tunisia's attempts to convene the summit in Cairo did not succeed.
On Wednesday a source in the AL said that convening the summit in the country of the headquarters, Egypt, is ruled out because its government is unprepared to bear the costs of a conference as such. The source added that the summit is threatened to be a failure if it is held in the current atmospheres of tension, noting that just a short time is left for convening it and only economic issued are so far approved on the meeting's agenda.