Arab countries say they are on their way to a summit -- " inshallah ". Dina Ezzat reports Tomorrow Arab heads of states are expecting a confirmation from their Tunisian counterpart that he will host the Arab summit on 22 May. Many Arab capitals are hoping for a positive resolution but some are not excluding the possibility of an apology or a request for yet another delay. This week the Arab summit was semi- officially declared to be scheduled for opening in Tunis on 22 May. The declaration was made on Monday evening by Tunisian foreign minister at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League at the end of a three-day Arab foreign ministers meeting that was held to finalise preparations for the heads of states meeting, and agree on its date and venue. "The Arab foreign ministers have agreed on the Tunisian proposal to have the summit on 22 and 23 May, in Tunis," said Tunisian Foreign Minister Al-Habib Bin Yehya. The announcement came after a five-week circus of public and official speculation over the fate of the Arab congregation that was abruptly called off late March by Tunisian President Zein Al-Abedine Bin Ali, the slated chair of the summit, hours before a scheduled summit opening at the Tunis Conference Centre. Yet, perhaps the fun and games are not over. Hours after this week's foreign ministers meeting closed on the note of Bin Yehya's announcement, Tunis notified Arab capitals that the final say on Tunis's plans to host the summit will be made on Friday by President Bin Ali. News of this caveat was leaked to the media on Tuesday. But is it rumour or fact? In Cairo, an Arab League spokesman denied it categorically. For their part, Tunisian diplomats in Cairo declined to deny or confirm the proviso. They did say that everybody knows the decision is ultimately the president's to make. Such developments came as a little surprise to many informed diplomats and observers. Addressing a joint press conference on Monday evening, along with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Bin Yehya sounded neither convincing nor confident when he declared the supposedly "final" agreement on the date and venue of the 2004 Arab summit. The Tunisian foreign minister spent less than 10 minutes in the press conference before excusing himself to catch a plane back to Tunis. For his part, unlike earlier episodes in the saga of the Arab summit, the Arab League secretary-general refrained from using affirmative language about the date and venue. Moussa declined to take questions related to the possibility of further delays or the cancellation of the summit, or for that matter on how many of the 22 heads of Arab League states would attend. Low expectations in this regard seemingly contributed in March to Bin Ali's decision to "postpone" the event. In the place of decisiveness, phrases like " inshallah " and "let us hope for the best" were common in statements made by Moussa and Bin Yehya this week and late last month during an earlier round of talks held in Cairo. The Arab summit has been a regular annual event since 2000. According to a protocol annexed to the Arab League Charter, the summit convenes in March either at the headquarters of the Arab League or in the country slated to chair the summit, if it offers to play host. This year, it took Tunis an eternity to decide whether it wanted to host the summit. On fairly short notice, Tunis made a low-profile declaration of its intention to host the event on 29 and 30 March. However, 48 hours before convocation the summit was postponed, according to Tunis because of the failure of preparatory ministerial meetings to agree on concrete steps towards political and social reform in the Arab world. Most Arab countries protested the unilaterality of the Tunisian decision and its pretext. Subsequent debate flourished over whether the summit could still be held in Tunis or should convene in Egypt, venue of the headquarters of the Arab League. Tunis insisted that in its capacity as the next presidency holder it would host the summit. Late last month it suggested 22 and 23 May as a potential time frame. It sent out invitations upon this tentative date despite the fact that its proposal was contested by a handful of Arab capitals due to prior presidential commitments. On Monday, however, during closed ministerial meetings in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers removed outstanding reservations on the proposed date and told their Tunisian counterpart that the leaders were willing to adjust their schedules to allow for the summit to convene "especially at this very critical time where the Arab countries are faced with serious political and economic challenges". In the words of a senior Arab diplomat, "Bin Yehya seemed to be somewhat surprised. It seemed to me that he was expecting a long debate by the Arab ministers on the date and venue." Although the ministerial meetings were strictly off limits to the press, information leaked that ministers definitively asked Bin Yehya to be "clearly specific about his country's intentions". It appears also that the possibility of having the summit at the headquarters of the Arab League, or in Sharm El- Sheikh if the security logistics involved in having the summit in Cairo proved complicated, was still in the air this week. Further, anonymous sources confirmed that the Tunisian minister asked to consult with his president before committing himself finally to a date. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, one Iraqi delegate said that contrary to expectations, Bin Yehya was trying hard to avoid discussing the venue and date of the summit. The source quoted his foreign minister as saying that he would not be too surprised if the Tunisians come at the last minute and asked for a further delay. A Sudanese delegate also suggested a sense of hesitation on the part of Bin Yehya during talks on this issue. A Jordanian delegate spoke of indications made by the Tunisian minister that no final decision will be made on the matter before the Tunisian president is assured about the quality of the resolutions that will be adopted by the summit and the level of representation. A Lebanese source close to the official delegation quoted his foreign minister as saying that the Tunisian minister did not offer his counterparts serious assurances. Egyptian sources reiterated what they have been saying for weeks; that Cairo is willing still to save the day if Tunis has cold feet. For their part, Arab League sources say that Moussa and Bin Yehya had a tête-�-tête Monday to finalise the matter. One source told the Weekly, "We are working on the understanding that the summit will happen in Tunis". He added that the League secretariat is already lining up names of the delegation that will fly to Tunis with Moussa. The venue and exact day of the summit, many Arab diplomats argue, might have been significant in March but have since been superseded in importance by alarming developments in Palestine and Iraq. Specifically Arab officials are alarmed by the recent increase in US bias towards Israel as well as the mismanagement of affairs in Iraq. In Cairo this week, Palestine and Iraq figured high on the agenda of the ministerial meetings. Draft resolutions on Palestine and Iraq that were already prepared in March were again debated and re-worked. Like most other resolutions, those related to Iraq and Palestine are scratching the back of the US on the one hand and tapping it on the shoulder on the other. On Palestine, an upcoming summit is likely to declare dissent to the exchange of letters between US President George W Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that set in doubt the right of Palestinians to recover territories occupied by Israel in 1967 and which liquidated, effectively, the right of return of Palestinian refugees. At the same time, the summit is likely to speak out against attacks on civilians "on both sides". On Iraq, the summit is expected to voice revulsion at the brutalities that took place in Abu Ghraib, but not in very strong language, upon the request of Iraqi Foreign Minister Houchiar Zibari, sources say. Any resolution will fall short of asking for US soldiers involved to be tried for war crimes. The summit is also expected to give a nod of approval to the political process of power transfer that Washington is currently cooking up with the UN. Finally, the Arab summit is likely to announce, in fairly general terms, Arab commitment to measures of political and socio- economic reform; something that the US has been insisting on for the past few months. "We have to be realistic about where we are. We are living in a world where the US is the sole superpower," Arab League Secretary-General Moussa said. He added, "It is a rough sea that we are sailing on and we have to navigate carefully or else the Arab ship, which is fairly small, could be in danger."
