As the US steps up preparations to invade Iraq, Arab countries are squabbling amongst themselves. Dina Ezzat reports It was described by participants and observers alike as one of the worst Arab foreign ministers' meetings in years. "I have not seen such a bad meeting for a very long time," commented a senior participant. "They really could not agree on much," he added. Top Arab diplomats denied that their meeting last weekend had not gone well, but the disappointed looks on their faces confirmed what their communiqué revealed: they had failed to agree on any concrete steps to slow the pace of US preparations for a military campaign against sanctions-crippled Iraq. Although ideas were floated, none were adopted. There will be no delegation headed for Baghdad to discuss concessions Iraq might make to avert a war, and none charged with going to the US to discuss face-saving ways for it to change its plans. Agreements failed to materialise over the Egyptian proposal to hold an extraordinary summit later this month, assistance to Iraq in the event of war, and actions that should be taken at the outset of such a military campaign -- even though most participants believe that war is just around the corner. The level of representation at the meeting was high, as the delegations of 20 of the 22 member states of the Arab League were headed by ministers of foreign affairs. All the key top diplomats were there: Saud Al-Faissal of Saudi Arabia, Farouk Al- Sharaa of Syria, Hamad Bin Jassim of Qatar, Mohamed Bin Mubarak of Kuwait and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher. Also present were Mahmoud Hamoud, foreign minister of Lebanon, the current chair of the Arab summit; and Mohamed Bin Mubarak, foreign minister of Bahrain, the next chair of the summit. However, this high level of representation did not prove conducive to serious decision-making. Arab foreign ministers spent most of Saturday and Sunday squabbling not only over key issues but details as well. Discord prevailed with respect to the meeting agenda, the content of a possible communiqué at the end of the meeting, and plans for future Arab gatherings. The get-together was convened at the request of Lebanon so as to examine measures the Arabs might take in view of the ever-greater threat of a US-led military aggression against Iraq. However, as Arab foreign ministers were arriving in Cairo on Friday, it became clear that participants even had different views about the reasons for coming together. By Friday afternoon, Egypt had already called for an emergency Arab summit to be held during the last week of February in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss Arab stances on the Iraq standoff. Not surprisingly, the meeting got off to a rocky start on Saturday evening when disagreements erupted over its very purpose. "Why are we here? Are we here to agree on the Egyptian proposal for an extraordinary summit and prepare for it? Or, are we here to examine Arab diplomatic moves and make recommendations for the ordinary Arab summit that is supposed to take place in March?" one minister reportedly asked during the first session -- sentiments that were echoed by some of his colleagues at other points during the meeting. "But why should we have an extraordinary summit in the first place? Egypt is proposing an extraordinary summit. We do not even know what the goal of the extraordinary summit is? What are we going to report to our people at the end of this extraordinary summit? Why not wait to have the ordinary summit?" argued another minister, airing a view shared by some of his peers. While some states supported Egypt's call for an emergency summit in recognition of the fact that the situation in the region had become far too critical to ignore, others were opposed. Some delegations opposed the Egyptian proposition, apparently in frustration over the inattention to similar suggestions made by their own countries. "There have been calls for an Arab summit by other Arab states in recent months. The calls, however, were not given much attention by the Arab League, so why is it we have to meet when Egypt calls for a meeting?" commented a member of one of the delegations. He added, "Egypt cannot make such a call out of the blue and expect us to accept just like that." Other countries brought up more substantive justifications for their preference to hold an extraordinary summit as opposed to an ordinary one. Some participants expressed concern that holding an extraordinary summit in late February would undermine the chances of holding the ordinary summit in March, as stipulated by the annex of the Arab League charter adopted in 2000. Some participants also expressed concern that Arabs in general might be disappointed if the extraordinary summit were to come up with nothing more than a reaffirmation of the stance adopted last March at the Beirut Arab summit that expressed opposition to military action against Iraq, but did not require that member states take particular action in this respect. "We have to be honest with our people. We might all be opposed to the military strike, but we have to be realistic. Some of us have military relations with the US that we simply cannot ignore," commented a foreign minister of one of the Gulf states. He added, "We can say we are opposed to the war, but we will not be able to deny the Americans access to their military bases in our country." So, while Arab foreign ministers failed to agree on a date for the proposed extraordinary summit, another option was presented, as Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher explained. "Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa made an interesting proposition. He suggested holding an extraordinary summit to focus on Iraq on the last day of February to be followed by an ordinary summit on the first day of March to deal with the other issues and to hold the ordinary summit at its regular time." According to Maher, Egypt was willing to go along with the proposal. In the meantime, Secretary-General Moussa and Lebanese Foreign Minister Hamoud are working the phones to obtain the approval of Arab capitals on the dates. Explaining his proposition, Moussa said, "Yes, I think it's very important that we have an Arab meeting at the highest level at this point to discuss the situation. It's a critical situation that threatens the very pillars of the Arab regime, and Arab leaders have to discuss it." The Arab League head shrugged off insinuations that the meeting was only taking place owing to Egyptian pressure, or that no extraordinary meeting should take place in view of the pessimistic expectations for the outcome of such a gathering. Moussa was unwilling to be drawn into affirming that the extensive US military presence in all Arab Gulf countries renders talk of an Arab stance against the US military aggression pointless. "We should not lose focus. Our objective here is to discuss ways to avert a war against Iraq. If we manage to find a way to prevent it, the rest will be mere details," he said. In light of the discord over the communiqué, some diplomats argued that the prospects are bleak for the next Arab summit to reach the kind of resolutions required to deal with the current crisis. The eight-point communiqué the ministers issued following extensive and heated discussions offered nothing new. It expressed support for the security and territorial unity of Iraq, continued cooperation between Iraq and the UN and the need for the UN Security Council to give inspectors more time to do their work properly. It also "asserted the need for Arab countries to refrain from" facilitating the strike against Iraq. Kuwait, not surprisingly, had many concerns to voice about any changes to the league's position on the situation with its neighbour. The Kuwaiti minister, who had been lobbying hard to prevent the communiqué from being adopted, left the meetings early to demonstrate his anger, and his country officially expressed reservations about the document after it was issued. Judging by statements made by Kuwaiti officials inside as well as outside of the meeting and by the anti-Arab campaign launched by the Kuwaiti press after the foreign ministers' gathering, the country will probably be a stumbling block in any coordinated Arab effort on Iraq. Kuwait views the communiqué as being against its interests, irrespective of the document's emphasis on an Arab commitment to uphold its security and territorial integrity. In the words of one Kuwaiti commentator, "Kuwait has the US to worry about this. It was the US -- not the Arabs -- who got Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991". Kuwait is making no secret of its wish to see Saddam Hussein out of power. Some Kuwaiti officials, speaking off the record, indicated that their country endorses the war and perceives Arab attempts to stop it as an effort to maintain the current Iraqi regime and the threats it continues to make against Kuwait. But Kuwait may not be the only obstacle to Arab action on the Iraqi situation. Iraq is not being forthcoming in acknowledging that at this point, unless Saddam steps down, there appears to be very little that can be done to prevent US President George W Bush from giving the go-ahead for war. But even such a scenario is not without its unknowns. As one Arab diplomat said, "I'm not sure that even if offered the right guarantees, he will not be chased for war crimes as he goes into exile. Consequently, Saddam may still be inclined to turn down the offer." While Arab capitals may agree to the 28 February and 1 March Arab extraordinary and ordinary summits, if this week's meeting is any indication, Arab leaders are in for a tough time. Extraordinary summit cancelled ARAB leaders have agreed to hold their summit in Egypt early next March, a Cairo-based source told Al-Ahram Weekly yesterday. According to this source, Lebanon, -- the current chair of the Arab summit -- Egypt and the Arab League conducted intensive consultations during the past couple of days and "agreed that the summit should be held on 1 March. This is quite close to the Egyptian suggestion of convening a summit in the last week of February," the source added. The summit, Lebanese sources told the Weekly, will be preceded by a set of top-level Arab meetings to be hosted in Cairo. The venue of the summit will be selected during Arab diplomatic consultations due to take place in the next few days. The source said, "the summit will be in Egypt but we are not sure if it will take place in Cairo or Sharm El-Sheikh." Questioned on the issue, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters yesterday that an Arab summit is just around the corner, "be it ordinary or extraordinary".
