The departure of a top Arab diplomat from his Baghdad mission is a warning shot to Arab states that they must pull their act together, reports Dina Ezzat Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is currently reviewing high calibre candidates to head the diplomatic mission of the League in Baghdad. Moussa's decision is expected sooner rather than later given that he believes it necessary for the Arab organisation to keep as high profile as possible in Iraq. The diplomatic presence of the Arab League is regarded as the only high-level Arab representation in an otherwise death-ridden Iraqi capital. Arab capitals have not been dispatching high diplomatic representation to the Iraqi capital since the assassination of Egyptian Ambassador Ihab El-Sherif in June 2005 and subsequent attacks on other Arab -- and for that matter foreign -- diplomats in Baghdad. The post of the chief of the Arab League mission in Iraq became vacant over two weeks ago when Moussa accepted the resignation of Mukhtar Lamani soon after it was presented. Neither Moussa nor his spokesman gave details of the circumstances involved in the resignation. The only official word at the Arab League is that the organisation remains committed to keeping close links with Iraq, to helping Iraqis surmount the nightmare they are experiencing, and to emphasising the essential Arab identity of Iraq. No information has yet been made available on the candidates under consideration. Informed sources, however, told Al-Ahram Weekly that all prospective candidates have significant diplomatic experience and have served previously with international and regional organisations. None is a national of a neighbouring country to Iraq, nor are there are any Egyptians among their number. An Algerian and a Sudanese are the most probable contenders for the position, but no final decision has been taken by the secretary-general, said one source. For Lamani, who spent close to 12 months in his Baghdad mission, good intentions must be backed by action. "There has to be profound and effective political will on the side of Arab countries if they really wish to help Iraqis out of their nightmare," Lamani told the Weekly. Speaking via telephone from Morocco where he is visiting family before embarking on a fresh direction -- possibly academic -- Lamani was keen to be clear on the failure of Arab countries to live up to the challenge in Iraq; especially at a time when they are blaming other regional powers, namely Iran, for interfering in its own self- interest. "There was no interest in Iraq, or what the Arab League mission was trying to do there. Simply none," Lamani said. He added: "having established a wide network of contacts with all the key protagonists, I was getting attention: many Western parties solicited my insight and my views. But not a single Arab capital, or for that matter think-tank, demonstrated any interest in my mission." In his letter of resignation presented to the Arab League secretary-general and leaked to the press, Lamani underlined that his mission was crippled from the beginning. There was no point, according to the Moroccan diplomat, for the Arab summit that convened last March in Khartoum to adopt a resolution on "immediately" opening a mission for the League in Baghdad if there was no genuine intent on the part of the countries who adopted the resolution to empower the League to facilitate that mission. Lamani and sources close to his year-long mission in Iraq emphasise the lack of financial resources allocated for the League envoy's mission. Lamani himself had to live under what he qualified as "questionable security levels" and work with less financial and human capacity resources than the minimum he needed. The constraints imposed on the Moroccan diplomat prompted him to move to leave his job only a couple of months after beginning his assignment. This decision, however, was retracted with promises forthcoming on improving his working conditions. Lamani was also promised a wider political mandate to engage key regional and international stakeholders in Iraq. According to Lamani, these promises were forgotten. For some Arab League sources, the promises were partially but not fully kept due to restraints imposed on the secretariat by the League member states. One source said, however, "in any event, when Lamani accepted the mission he was well aware of the risks and constraints involved." According to some Arab League sources, Lamani's resignation had to be accepted immediately as it was leaked to the press prior to consultations within the League's secretariat. For Lamani, the resignation was inevitable in view of "an impossible and sad situation that has made it unfeasible to take any serious steps towards achieving the cornerstones for reconciliation in Iraq." "I went to Iraq around one year ago as Arabs adopted a resolution to exercise effective contribution towards Iraqi reconciliation," Lamani wrote in his letter of resignation. Confronted with a shocking level of ethnic tension, Lamani tried hard to build good and equitable trust with all parties. "It was a challenge that I wanted to take and I felt I could make a change if given adequate support," Lamani told the Weekly. Instead of support, Lamani faced a "total absence of a collective and coherent serious Arab vision on how to approach the Iraqi problem." Ali Garouch, head of the Arab Political Department at the Arab League, argued that "details of the resignation aside, the withdrawal of Lamani should be perceived as a reminder of the need to firm up the collective Arab position on Iraq." Garouch is not in full agreement with Lamani's assessment of the lack of a collective Arab stance on Iraq. "I would not say that, but I would say that the role of the Arab League in Iraq, which was always built on the initiative of the secretary- general, needs a stronger endorsement from all Arab countries," Garouch said. He added, "now is the time to give the League a push on Iraq." In its recent annual strategic report, Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies acknowledged the efforts undertaken by the Arab League -- mainly the secretariat -- in defining an Arab role vis-à-vis the highly complex regional and international problem that is Iraq. However, the report also berates the lack of support accorded to the League by its member states in pursuing reconciliation, whether in Iraq, Palestine, Sudan or elsewhere. The report also warned that Arab countries should not count forever on "the dynamism and atypical diplomatic and political initiatives of Secretary-General Amr Moussa". The League, the report noted, should be given real tools if expected to deliver results. This is precisely the point that Lamani is stressing. "If the train is not on the rails, it cannot move. Arab countries need to put down the rails before they stoke the engine of the train," he told the Weekly. Without foundations, he added, the Arab League mission in Iraq would be reduced to a shallow Arab presence at a time when Arab countries are losing Iraq to regional and international powers. Many Arab states have recently promised to cooperate with the new strategy adopted by US President George W Bush on Iraq. Diplomatic representation by Arab states in Baghdad was underlined by the US administration as part of its vision of cooperation. Inside sources admit, however, that the soon-to-be-named new Arab League ambassador in Baghdad is likely for some time to be the sole Arab head of mission in the Iraqi capital.
