Algeria withdraws its suggestion for rotating presidency for the post of AL secretary general
Algeria yesterday withdrew a proposal which called for amending the charter of the Arab League to rotate the presidency of the Secretary General post among the AL member states instead of monopolizing the post of the secretary general by that the hosting country ( Egypt), but Algeria clung to other items on reforming the Arab League.
The Algerian foreign minister Abdul Aziz Balkhadem said that Algeria had proposed the idea of "rotating presidency" on the post of the UN secretary general because "we are in the phase of reforming the common Arab action system and restructuring its establishments."
Asked about an Algerian proposal to rotate the post of the Arab League secretary general, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said that this point can be discussed by member states but Egypt's view is that an Egyptian secretary general would facilitate his work as well as all activities of the pan-Arab organization.
He denied that this issue had resulted in any kind of misunderstanding between Egypt and Algeria, noting that Belkhadem clarified his country's stance in statements Tuesday. The Algerian top diplomat said that his country's proposal regarding the post of the Arab League Secretary General only comes as part rehabilitating the pan-Arab organization.
Belkhadem, however, praised the role played by Arab League Chief Amr Moussa in defending Arab causes.
Hours before the inauguration of the special session of the Arab foreign ministers over reforming structures of the Arab League, the Algerian foreign minister said that Algeria has no candidate for the AL general secretariat and had supported the selection of Amr Moussa as a secretary general in 2001.
He indicated that the Algerian proposal over the post of the AL secretary general is not targeting the person of the AL secretary general.
Balkhadem denied that he had accused the AL secretariat of being one of the departments of the Egyptian foreign ministry.
For his part, Moussa said that the file of "rotating presidency" is closed, noting it will not be open again after the agreement maintained on Wednesday with the Algerian foreign minister.
In the same context, news reports in Cairo said that Lebanon and Jordan signed a document of oath which calls for abiding by boosting and reforming the mechanism of the AL work. The Arab League follow up committee, in the presence of the Arab foreign ministers discussed developments concerning the status of the Palestinians, means of supporting them, the American sanctions against Syria, and the United Arab Emirates islands which are occupied by Iran.