Arabs Divided over Reforms

27/03/2004| IslamWeb

Arab foreign ministers preparing for an Arab summit which begins in Tunis on Monday held a sometimes stormy session yesterday marked by differences over a plan for wide-ranging political reform in the Arab world, officials said. "An Egyptian document containing ideas and plans for the future Middle East was presented and sparked discussions that were sometimes stormy," one official told AFP, adding that "the majority wanted it to be adopted by the summit." "But some countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, believe it is not necessary to present a reform plan now, when the priority should be the Arab-Israeli conflict." Adding to the tension was the bitter memory of the assassination on Monday by Israeli forces of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Disagreements emerged at the informal gathering of the ministers on Thursday, prompting certain delegates to suggest the summit might be postponed. It was a possibility that gained credibility from a Saudi announcement that Crown Prince Abdullah would not attend the summit. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika later told the Al Arabiya satellite television network that he had heard officially that some countries wanted the summit to be postponed. But Arab Secretary General Amr Moussa insisted the summit would go ahead as planned and denied that it would be put off. Arab states opposed to discussing reforms here maintain that the summit should limit itself to adopting a firm position on Israel that demands an Israeli withdrawal from Arab territory occupied since 1967. But countries backing the Egyptian document insist that settling the Arab-Israeli dispute must "go hand in hand with reform," commented another senior Arab official. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelrahman Shalgam proposed yesterday that Arab leaders adopt language at the summit that would commit them to following its example on renouncing programmes of weapons of mass destruction, but Syria rejected the call as a gift to Israel, an Arab source said. Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Shara rejected the proposal and called for Arabs to restate their longstanding position that Israel must abandon its alleged nuclear weapons as part of any effort to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, the source said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Libyan Foreign Minister, Abderrahman Shalgam (R) speaks with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Maher (L), at the opening of a meeting of Arab foreign ministers taking place in Tunis. (AFP/Fethi Belaid)