A shift in focus?

By Dina Ezzat
Twelve months ago, if asked to speculate about the close of the year 2000, most Egyptian diplomats would have argued that Egypt was far more likely to have made strides in the colossal effort toward a final, or at least semi-final, Palestinian-Israeli deal than to persuade all Arab countries -- including Iraq and its Gulf neighbours -- to sit down together for a high-level summit.
As it happens, what seemed highly unlikely did take place. Efforts to induce an agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis have failed, but with the Al-Aqsa Intifada, a long-overdue Arab summit convened in Cairo on 21 October was far more successful.
"I think the convening of the Arab summit, and the resolution that was adopted by heads of state to meet every year [starting March 2001] is the most important event of this diplomatic season," commented Foreign Minister Amr Moussa. Speaking to reporters in a year-ender briefing this week, Moussa suggested that the Arab summit constitutes a turning point in inter-Arab relations.
The October summit was the first comprehensive Arab summit since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent Gulf War in 1991. "There is no doubt that Iraq's participation in this summit marks a development in the [Arab] approach towards Iraq," Moussa said. The prevalent sentiment in the Arab world today regarding sanctions on Iraq, Moussa told reporters, is that "enough is enough."
More importantly, this Arab gathering -- the first since a Cairo Arab summit in 1996 not attended by Iraq -- succeeded in offering a venue for all Arab parties concerned with the peace process to meet in a framework of talks more effective than all that have come before it. It was only through the Arab summit that the Syrian and Palestinian heads of state sat at the same table to address the issue of peace in the Middle East.
When the Al-Aqsa Intifada erupted on 28 September, it served to magnify the endemic shortcomings in nine years of Arab-Israeli efforts to make peace. But the new round of violence coincided with a turn in Egypt's policy towards Iraq. Before this year came to an end, Egypt had slightly raised the level of its diplomatic ties with Iraq. Egypt and Iraq agreed last month that their interest sections in both Cairo and Baghdad would be acting from the embassy headquarters in both capitals. The flags of Egypt and Iraq were raised on both buildings.
Meanwhile Egypt's relations with Israel took a sharp downturn in November when Cairo recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest of the massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza -- where the Palestinian Authority keeps its headquarters. While Egypt is actively tracking the implementation of the Arab summit resolutions, there is little for it to do in pursuing resolutions concluded at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit, where concerned world leaders convened only days before the Arab summit in a bid to end the ongoing violence in the Palestinian occupied territories.
So, will Egyptian diplomacy in 2001 be slanted towards enhancing inter-Arab relations and thereby divert its usual focus on efforts for a Palestinian-Israeli deal? "Not at all," commented one Egyptian diplomatic source. "Egypt will continue to focus on the peace process."
On the trend toward inter-Arab relations, Moussa was optimistic: "We hope that the Arab summit [as an establishment] will prove effective ... in leading Arab countries towards goals that serve common interests." Moussa says that he hopes 2001 will witness more inter-Arab coordination on all manner of regional and international issues. It is, however, an open question whether or not Egyptian diplomacy will find the time for this inter-Arab engagement or if it will, as always, be too preoccupied with the saga of the Middle East peace process.
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