Dina Ezzat from Paris explores the possibility of closer and more egalitarian cooperation between countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean on the one hand and the European Union on the other. Amid much controversy, the French managed to pull off a publicity coup of gigantic proportions, but of course, not everyone was happy Arabs redirect Paris Internal Arab disputes top the news amid attempts to further Mediterranean cooperation President Hosni Mubarak and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad on Sunday morning, at the entrance of the Grand Palais in Paris, was dry, formal, abrupt and indicative of a continued rift between the two leading Arab states. Ahead of this week's one-day Union for the Mediterranean summit in the French capital, Mubarak, in his capacity as summit co-chair, welcomed many participants, including Al-Assad. Presidents Mubarak and Al-Assad along with leaders and representatives of eight other Arab countries -- all Mediterranean with the exception of Qatar -- arrived along with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to discuss cooperation across the Mediterranean. The meeting included Israel, Turkey, member states of the European Union, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Monaco and Montenegro. Discussions centred on Arab issues. The rift between Egypt and Syria was one such issue; not just for Arab delegates but also for the French organisers who had to make sure that Mubarak and Al-Assad were not forced by logistics into more than one ceremonial handshake. Al-Assad, current chair of the Arab summit, exchanged no more than a simple "Good morning. How are you?" with Mubarak. Neither the Egyptian president nor the Syrian leader requested a meeting that could have preceded an end to the two- year fall-out between them, prompted by profound disagreement on regional politics between Cairo and Damascus. "The Syrian alliance with Iran runs counter to Egypt's strategic interests in the region," said an Egyptian source on condition of anonymity. Egypt has been uncomfortable, also, with what it qualifies as Syria's "negative" influence over allies in Lebanon and over Hamas in Gaza. According to one Syrian diplomat, Damascus, for its part, "is dismayed" by what it qualifies as "limited if any" support received from Cairo at times of US-led international isolation. "The differences between Cairo and Damascus are not too difficult to resolve, but for this to happen a meeting has to take place either in Cairo or Damascus, not here in Paris," the Egyptian source added. When he stopped at the Ritz Hotel in Paris for a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Al-Assad did not meet with Mubarak who was also a guest at the Ritz. So Egypt kept a distance while Syria was offered a path back from the cold by the summit's French host. Al-Assad was invited and welcomed by Sarkozy to the Elysee for talks that ended in a joint statement that promised the "re-launch of bilateral relations", a visit by Sarkozy to the Syrian capital "before mid-September 2008", and a firm commitment of France -- current chair of the EU -- to work towards "the signing of the association agreement between Syria and the EU". In a joint press conference of Sarkozy, Al-Assad, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa (a key mediator between Syria and Lebanon), the French president announced and commended Al-Assad's agreement to establish full diplomatic relations between Damascus and Beirut. He also promised to mediate between Syria and Israel and committed, in private, to open channels for political rapprochement between Damascus and Washington. Moreover, he announced Al-Assad as a mediator between Paris -- and maybe even a larger part of the West -- and Tehran in the standoff over the scope of Iran's nuclear programme. Egypt, for its part, was engaged in an equally complicated and Arab issue: the order issued by the International Criminal Court to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on allegations of committing crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes in Darfur. According to statements made in Paris by Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awwad, Mubarak warned that such a move would only aggravate instability in Darfur and forestall reconciliation in Sudan. During his three-day visit to Paris, Mubarak consulted intensively with Sarkozy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and President Al-Bashir over a diplomatic exit for the Sudanese leader. Upon an Egyptian-French agreement, Al-Bashir delegated his Foreign Minister Al-Yamani Wassila for deliberations with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as well as with Moussa and other Arab foreign ministers present in Paris. A senior Sudanese diplomat speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly by phone in Paris said that it was important for Khartoum to communicate with the world but did not indicate any easy resolution. Mubarak had also to mediate between France and Libya, whose leader turned down an invitation from Sarkozy to take part in the Paris summit due to scepticism that the new initiative is designed to serve only the interests of the north, especially in relation to containing south-north immigration and integrate Israel regardless of its continued illegal occupation of Arab land. "During a lunch hosted by Sarkozy, Mubarak conveyed the concerns of Libya, and following the meeting called Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with clarifications," Awwad told reporters. Throughout the week, Arab issues such as Syrian-Lebanese reconciliation and the Sudanese presidential indictment topped the news rather than the fast tracking of Euro- Mediterranean cooperation. French diplomats consider the "forceful return of France" to the Middle East, rather than the re-launch of cooperation around the Mediterranean, as Sarkozy's main achievement.
