Dina Ezzat finds the most interesting debates on the sidelines rather than the main hall of the Arab summit The Arab summit that ended yesterday in the Algerian capital with renewed calls for peace in the Middle East and home-grown reform in the Arab world could best be described as uneventful. The summit, which opened on Tuesday morning and was attended by only 13 out of 22 heads of Arab states, adopted all the usual resolutions -- a just settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, support of Syria and Lebanon against Israeli aggression, calls for stability in Iraq, Sudan and Somalia and renewed commitment to expand the Arab presence and engagement on the international scene. With the exception of reaching a consensus over the 60-year-old League's chronic financial crisis, Arab leaders and their representatives consistently failed to address the Arab world's most pressing issues during the summit's plenary sessions. "I think that the Algerians wanted a safe summit," commented one senior Arab diplomat. Other senior officials note that if Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Boutafliqa, the current chair of the Arab summit, had actively pursued the discussion of pressing problems he would have had angry leaders storming out of the summit hall. It was perceived best by both host and guests to leave such issues for fringe discussions. So the Arab leaders who meet in Algeria this week avoided discussions of the Saudi-Libyan dispute that has overshadowed previous summits. The absence of Saudi Arabia's effective ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, was taken as granted given the presence of his by now archenemy, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The problems between the host of the summit and his neighbour, King Mohamed VI of Morocco, were conveniently overlooked by both leaders. Other Arab problems -- Saudi-Qatari tensions, Iraqi-Syrian disagreements and the strained relations between Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and the governments of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates -- were also ignored for the sake of keeping up appearances before a public that should by now be inured to the sight of leaders squabbling. The determination to steer away from controversy probably lay behind the Algerian host's show of disinterest in supporting a Jordanian proposal aimed at promoting the normalisation of relations with Israel. "This is not going to be the summit of normalisation," Algerian Foreign Minister Abdel-Aziz Belkhadem said repeatedly. Like his 21 counterparts, Belkhadem could not be oblivious to the exchange of friendly guests between many Arab capitals, including his own, and the current Likud Israeli government. Yet as host of the Arab summit Algeria wanted no headaches, especially not with its own people, over encouraging Arab states to befriend Israel. Speaking to his Jordanian counterpart Hani Al- Molqi on the sidelines of the summit Belkhadem said that "nobody is denying any country the right to pursue good and even normal relations with Israel" but at the same time Algeria could not afford to be associated with Arab-Israeli normalisation. This Algerian position was supported by other Arab rulers and by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa who told the summit that "there should be no normalisation for free", especially not when Israel continues to occupy Arab territories and exercises aggression against Palestinians. One consequence of this avoidance of controversy was that the Algiers summit failed to attract the attention of the public. Even the 1000 journalists present -- mostly Arab with a conspicuous absence of the international media -- seemed at times bored and often more interested in where they would have lunch than in what was being said about Arab commitment to Palestinian rights, let alone those of the Syrians, Iraqis and Sudanese. It was only when journalists were allowed access to fringe meeting rooms that their interest was roused. They then began to follow the statements and movements of Arab leaders -- especially consultations over the explosive Syria/Lebanon file. The most attention went to the meeting between President Hosni Mubarak, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad -- Mubarak had earlier met with Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt in Cairo -- and to the Assad-Annan 15-minute tête-à-tête. Assad will soon provide the UN with a "credible and clear" schedule for the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence services from Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559, Annan told one of the summit's few large gatherings of journalists following his talks with Assad. Arab League Secretary-General Moussa was also the centre of otherwise lax media attention when he indicated to the summit that he would decline a second term once his current term expires. "I am going to work hard to pursue the implementation of the responsibility you entrusted me with up to the last minute of the coming year which is the last year of my term as secretary-general of the Arab League," Moussa said. Moussa's frustration with the lack of commitment Arab states have shown the League is no secret, and his announcement inevitably provoked speculation over his future plans. Otherwise the Algiers summit opened and closed without much ado. Arab leaders say the next summit is tentatively scheduled to take place in Khartoum after Djibouti; the next host according to alphabetic rotation, declined to host the summit.
