Three meetings dealing with the often illusory dream of peace and reconciliation took place this week: in La Celle Saint Cloud, west of Paris, for Lebanon; in Mogadishu for Somalia; and in Tripoli, Libya, for Darfur. Peace, or even talking about peace must never be belittled or abandoned. The peace processes in Lebanon, Somalia and Sudan are currently underway. The nature of the political crisis in the three countries is very different. However, there are common facets. The interplay of religion and politics is abundantly clear in at least two cases -- Lebanon and Somalia. In Lebanon, it is essentially a question of confessional divisions and leaders of different faiths playing on the old rivalries and grievances of their followers. Somalia is a classic case of a country where the state collapsed and Islamist militants took over, but were later ousted by foreign forces. The national reconciliation conference in Somalia is a golden opportunity for Somali leaders and politicians to rebuild the war-devastated country. They must set aside their differences and create a new and prosperous Somalia. Darfur is the world's worst humanitarian crisis triggered by the age-long struggle over meagre resources between settled cultivators and roaming nomadic tribes. Darfur is also a quintessential case of the underdevelopment and political marginalisation of an outlying backwater. But, in Darfur as in Lebanon and in Somalia, there are pressures by foreign powers to internationalise the crises, to draw in foreign troops -- both as aggressors and as peacekeepers. Darfur is a land of rich natural resources, and the people of Darfur must benefit from the wealth of their land. But, they can only do so if peace prevails and incessant warring ends. The struggle for the survival and the preservation of the sovereignty of Arab states is on. Arab states are quite literally clinging to life. And, Arab peoples are bearing the brunt of the political chaos. In Iraq and in Palestine foreign occupation has unleashed unprecedented violence, vicious internecine fighting -- bitter fraternal infighting. In Palestine it is Fatah versus Hamas. In Iraq, the situation is more complex -- the interplay of ethnicity and religion are spewing violent reactions -- Arab versus Kurd, Sunni versus Shia. The tragedy of the situation is that the ordinary people are the ones that suffer the most -- they dearly pay the price of political chaos. Millions of lives across the Arab world are devastated. The indifferent gaze of the outside world only makes matters worse. The world media must bear witness to the fratricidal conflicts in the Arab world. These wars are instigated by Western powers. It is in this context that the peace negotiations taking place in Libya, France and Somalia concerning the conflicts in Darfur, Lebanon and Somalia respectively are of vital importance. The people of these war- torn lands want peace. They also have aspirations for a better future for themselves and their children. Generations of Arabs have known nothing but war and destitution. Until their countries offer a decent living, the lure of war will loom large in Arab lands. Peace must prevail. But for peace to be institutionalised, the root causes of war must first be uprooted. The Arab masses are in belligerent frame of mind. That mood may prove catching. What is to be done? The current peace talks must not end up as meaningless talking shops. They must not be permitted to end up as forums in which the deepening rift between secularists and Islamists in the Arab world is fully exposed. These meetings must not be allowed to be hijacked by foreign powers with hidden agendas. The quest for peace must never be tampered with. People the world over have a right to live in peace. The long-suffering people of Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Sudan must be granted the right to live in peace. And, they can only live in peace if Western powers with imperialistic designs stop interfering in the domestic affairs of Arab and Muslim nations. The time has come for politicians in the Arab and Muslim worlds to set aside their own narrow self-interests and instead put the interests of the people first.
