Arab foreign ministers in Cairo tried to reach a unified vision of current Middle East crises, reports Doaa El-Bey, but actions remain louder than words The Arab League foreign ministers meeting held this past weekend in Cairo comes at a time when the region is facing a series of growing crises just weeks ahead of the annual Arab League summit to be held in Riyadh. In dire need of a unified vision, Arab foreign ministers managed to agree on some basic issues but differed on others. In their final communiqué, the Arab foreign ministers joined in calling for the unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq, hailing the unity and solidarity of the Lebanese people, and reiterating the importance of the establishment of a Palestinian national unity government in order to achieve stability in the region. In a sign of consensus, the ministers seemed to agree on two important issues: supporting the Mecca Accord as the basis for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government and rejecting any change to the 2002 Arab peace initiative. Their agreement provides firm ground for the Riyadh summit. The Quartet conditions that could place more obstacles before a Palestinian national unity government did not seem to deter ministers from adopting a unified stand. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa emphasised that at this stage it is the duty of Palestinians to form a unity government. "Once it is in place, we can see a lot of dynamics. We can have a lot of logic to support our argument," he said at a press conference held at the end of the ministerial meeting. Ministers reiterated their support for the Arab initiative as the basis for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. They unanimously rejected any changes to it. It is expected the initiative will be re-launched at the Riyadh summit without the changes Israel has been pushing for. Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian foreign minister emphasised that Arabs need to establish a unified stand and put pressure on Israel and other parties in order to implement the Arab initiative as it stands. "Today's meeting, and other meetings to be held in the coming weeks before the summit, [should] try to work out a mechanism to implement the Arab initiative. The Riyadh summit for Arab states is a 'To be or not to be' summit," Shaath added. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was quoted last week as saying that Israel would not accept the Arab initiative of 2002 as it is, asking that any reference to the right of return for Palestinians and withdrawal from land occupied in 1967 be dropped. Meanwhile, some analysts believe the ministers fell short of taking action consistent with prevailing rhetoric. While Tunisian Foreign Minster Abdul Wahab Abdullah criticised the international community for not breaking the embargo imposed on the Palestinians since the election of Hamas to government early last year, he ignored the fact that Arab countries had not broken the embargo either. In their previous meeting in Cairo last year, foreign ministers unanimously agreed to immediately lift their embargo on the Palestinians and facilitate the passage of financial aid to the occupied territories. There has barely been any sign since that Arab states actually lifted the siege. Failure to reach a consensus on the venue of the upcoming Arab summit may lead to Libya boycotting the Riyadh high-level meeting. Although Moussa confirmed that Libya has not officially declared that it will not attend the summit, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalgham declared on the sidelines of the meeting that Libya's seat at the summit would be vacant. The 2006 Khartoum summit had agreed that the 2007 gathering would be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after Saudi Arabia said it would not host the meeting. But the oil-rich kingdom, which chairs the 2007 summit, announced it had changed its mind and requested the summit be held in Riyadh. Shalgam accused Arab countries of not being serious. "If a decision is taken in a summit, it should only be reversed in another summit," he told reporters covering the foreign ministers meeting. On another track, the foreign ministers meeting gave a boost to Arab-Turkish relations and paved the road for the establishment of an Arab-Turkish forum. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who was invited to the meeting, agreed with Arab countries in supporting the Mecca Accord and called on the international community to support a Palestinian national unity government whenever it is formed. Gul also called for the unity of Iraq to be preserved under a strong central government that represents the interests of all Iraqi parties. A "divided Iraq would cause aftershocks through the region," he said in the opening session of the meeting. Gul also addressed the situation in the oil- rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, saying that developments there could have a negative effect across the region, whereas reconciliation would reflect positively and augur stability. The Arab foreign ministers meeting also gave room to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres to shed light on the plight of Iraqi refugees. In what he described as the biggest displacement since 1948, Guterres said that two million Iraqis were forced to leave the country and another 1.8 million were displaced. He warned that these numbers would increase by the end of the year. Noting that the majority of refugees worldwide are Muslims, Guterres issued an appeal to the Muslim and Arab world to play a greater role in the discussion, formulation and implementation of international refugee policy.
