Arab cooperation at home and abroad: on this theme Dina Ezzat spoke to the Arab League's Hesham Youssef following the Arab and Arab-African summits in Sirte, Libya, and with Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Gracia Belaudnde in Cairo concerning the upcoming Arab-South America Summit in Lima next year On Saturday and Sunday, Arab leaders and their representatives met in the Libyan city of Sirte for two consecutive summits: the first was an extraordinary Arab summit; the second was an Arab-African summit, the first in over three decades. The resolutions adopted by both summits offered no major news: no firm Arab position was formulated to counter aggressive Israeli intransigence against Arab rights, no serious plan was adopted to contain a potential new outbreak of hostilities in Sudan between the north and south, and no creative ideas were offered to end the deadlock facing the composition of an Iraqi government; indeed, no detailed plan was offered to promote Arab-African relations. But for Hesham Youssef, chief of cabinet of the Arab League secretary-general, it is simplistic and erroneous to argue that the Sirte summits contributed nothing to pressing Arab dilemmas, or to the Arab-African relations. "Some work was done," Youssef said. The Arab League official said he is convinced that the discussion conducted by Arab officials, both at the ministerial and head of state level, on the fate of Palestinian-Israeli talks was useful in lending support to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is declining to engage in direct talks while the Israeli government fails to freeze settlement construction in occupied Palestinian territories. "All Arab countries sent a clear message that Israel is to be held responsible for any suspension [or even break] of direct talks, because this is only happening due to the Israeli rejection to extend the settlement freeze," Youssef said. Israel is required by several peace process documents to fully halt all construction of settlements -- considered illegal under international law -- in the occupied Palestinian territories. The 2002 "roadmap" in particular specifies the freeze as an obligation upon Israel. Late last month, the Israeli government ended a 10-month partial freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank and has declined to extend it, even for a few months, as requested by US President Barack Obama, President Hosni Mubarak and other world and Arab leaders. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered a two- month extension of the freeze in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. This is something that Youssef says is out of the question. "The Americans tell us they are working with the Israelis to extend the freeze. They asked us to give them time, and the Sirte meetings agreed to give four weeks after which a meeting of the [concerned] ministerial committee would meet at the Arab League to decide the next step." Youssef adds that this decision was taken upon a consensual assessment that if the Obama administration is working to deliver an extension of the settlement freeze it is reasonable to lend it a helping hand. The US and other Western capitals welcomed the Arab resolution. According to an American source, there is a possibility that Netanyahu could agree to a short extension of the settlement freeze to allow for intensive talks to continue in the weeks to come. Youssef added: "Anyway, there are alternatives that were being discussed in Sirte, and that would be further examined" if the Obama administration fails to deliver an extension of the freeze. The most obvious alternative is a diplomatic demarche before the UN Security Council to press for recognition of the right of Palestinians to have an independent state. This, however, is not an option all Arab capitals favour. Some, including Cairo, believe that "this is all wishful thinking". The US, one Egyptian diplomat said, "would never allow such a stance to pass through the UN Security Council, so what is the point in going this way?" Youssef argues that "different assessments" regarding this and other options are preliminary and that agreement will be reached on the next steps. "Arab capitals have requested the US to speed up its talks with Israel and we will see in four weeks where we are going next," he said. Beyond this, Youssef argues, the Arab summit in Sirte offered a good opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss matters related to inter-Arab relations and Arab relations with neighbours. According to Youssef, there is agreement among Arab leaders that the Arab League needs to be upgraded and that a new concept needs to be adopted for Arab relations with neighbouring countries. It is a matter of agreeing on the details of the mechanisms and speed of reform, he added. Youssef acknowledges that while some countries favour a fast-tracked move towards a union of Arab states, others -- "and those are not in the minority" -- tend to favour a slower speed in this direction. "The same goes for the proposal of Secretary-General Amr Moussa on the Arab Neighbourhood Policy. There, too, there is agreement that Arab countries have an interest in promoting better relations with their neighbours, to pursue closer political and economic cooperation, but some countries have questions, and those will be discussed." The Sirte Arab summit agreed to demand of Arab foreign ministers to hold meetings on both issues and to present Arab leaders with clear recommendations. "This is certainly an act of engagement," Youssef said. An act of engagement could also be used to describe the outcome of the Afro-Arab summit that adopted a document on strategic partnership and a plan of action to promote food and energy security, expand trade exchange and pursue political consultations. Both the Arab League and the African Union should work to set up the required mechanisms over the next few months. "Let us be realistic. That was the first Afro-Arab summit in 33 years. It was a beginning and I can tell you there is a commitment to activate relations -- a serious commitment," Youssef stated. The South America connection The recent award of the Nobel Prize in literature to Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llossa brought Arab media attention to the South American country. In stories printed for the Arab reading public, information was offered on the life and works of Llossa, writer, journalist, novelist and political activist. Llossa is not the first literary name from South America to be presented to Arab readers. However, as Peruvian Foreign Minister Peru Jose Antonio Gracia Belaudnde told Al-Ahram Weekly in Cairo, it is the wider introduction of South American culture that his country -- as the incoming chair of the Arab-South America summit whose next round will convene in Lima in February 2011 -- is interested in promoting. Cultural cooperation may not yet top the agenda of the Arab- South America summit, but Belaudnde noted that it might get more prominence. "Maybe more translations of books, and maybe more exchange of movies. There are great writers in the Arab world and also in South America," he said only hours before Llossa won the 2010 Nobel Prize for literature. "We would like to have more cultural exchange. Exchange of students is one thing that we would really like to work on," Belaudnde said. He added that South American citizens of Arab origin, and they are many in some countries, have a firm role in promoting this exchange and other forms of cultural cooperation. It was upon a joint initiative of Brazil's Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa that the first Arab-South America summit was held in Brazil in May 2005. In March 2008, Qatar hosted the second round of the summit back- to-back with the annual convocation of the Arab summit. At the time a Qatari diplomat had told the Weekly that the choice of Doha to hold the meeting on the back of the Arab summit was aimed at securing as a high a presence of Arab leaders as possible, because not all Arab leaders would be able to find time to travel to South America. Notwithstanding the long distance and pressing responsibilities of most Arab leaders, Peru's foreign minister told the Weekly that Lima is hopeful to receive many Arab leaders next February, because "there is so much that our countries could do together". Belaudnde's visit to Cairo over the weekend was the first leg of an Arab tour that also took in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Libya. This was Belaudnde's second Arab tour to prepare for the February event. The first took him to the Gulf. A third tour, Belaudnde said, would take him to the countries of the Maghreb in a few weeks. During his tour, the top Peruvian diplomat examined the possible agenda of the Lima summit: expanding trade, investment and economic cooperation in general. "Since the first summit in Brazil, South American countries and Arab countries have been successful in following up on the recommendations to pursue closer cooperation. And we have already more investment and more trade being exchanged," he said. During his tour, Belaudnde was keen to meet not just counterparts but also top officials responsible for economic development. The promotion of economic cooperation, Belaudnde said, would also have to include entrepreneurs. Lima, he added, is planning to host not just officials but also representatives of the private sector. It is also planning to examine agreements on legal frameworks, required among other things to promote economic cooperation. "There is still much to be done; we are the very beginning, but it is a good beginning, and it is also important to think that we now have a forum," Belaudnde said, arguing that the fact that South American economies were the least -- if at all -- hit by the global financial crisis of the past two years should be encouraging for Arab businesses to invest in South America. "South America seems so far. I understand. But step-by-step, there are more who are looking towards South America." Arab and South American countries already share membership in key Third World forums, including the Non-Aligned Movement and G77. Traditionally, Arab states have received political support from some South American countries. Belaudnde underlined that the cause of development is a joint interest across the Third World, and which could benefit from an "updated Third World approach, instead of the old fashioned way of doing things". "In today's world there is a superpower, the US, but there are also emerging powers: Brazil, India and Pakistan [for example] have something to say on world problems. Everybody counts," Belaudnde said. He added that he "would like to think that the UN has more of a role to play", for example regarding promoting a fair settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The countries of South America could play a role in this too, he said. According to the declarations of Brasilia and Doha, Arab-South American cooperation is firm in foregrounding the UN as an umbrella for conflict resolution, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the dialogue of civilisations. As such, reform of the UN is a point of common interest that Arab and South American delegates should examine in Lima next February.
