Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Tuesday, February 27, in Amman to prepare an Arab summit to be held March 27 in Amman, hoping it will set a "new beginning" for Arab unity, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah al-Khatib said.
Meeting ahead of a visit to Amman by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the two leaders stressed that the "Palestinian cause is the key priority of the Arab nation" and called for a lifting of sanctions on Iraq, he said.
"The two leaders examined preparations for the summit which will constitute the start of a new phase of Arab action and the determination of Arabs to unify their positions and close ranks," Khatib told reporters.
The Palestinian cause and Iraq were at the heart of their discussions at the Raghadan palace where Mubarak was Abdullah's guest for lunch during the two-hour visit to Amman. Mubarak then flew home where on Wednesday he will hold consultations with Arafat, officials said. "The Palestinian cause, the situation in the Palestinian territories and the need to lift the (Israeli) blockade imposed on these territories are a priority for the Arab nation," Khatib said.
Mubarak and Abdullah also discussed Iraq as well as Arab wishes to see an end to the 10-year-old UN sanctions, which were imposed on Baghdad after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. "Discussions underway on the partial lifting of sanctions are taking place as several countries are calling for an end to this tragic situation in Iraq which is hurting the people," Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa said.
"The mission of Arab countries is to deal with the Iraqi question in a way to guarantee the interests of the Iraqi people, those of the Arab nation as well as international laws," Mussa said. He was obviously referring to the just-ended tour of the region by US Secretary of State Colin Powell who announced having found an Arab consensus for a review of sanctions to ease the hardships of the Iraqi people.
During his whirlwind tour of Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria, Powell urged regional leaders to help the United States contain Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. But he apparently failed to narrow differences between Israel and the Palestinian Authority or secure an end to the five-month violence that has claimed more than 400 lives.
Jordan and Egypt, key regional allies of the United States, have denounced the deadly February 16 US-British air strikes on Baghdad and both have called for a lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq during talks with Powell. Mubarak also said last week that Saddam was not a threat to world peace. Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries bound by a peace treaty with Israel, want the Jewish state to pick up peace talks with the Palestinians where they left off last month.
Diplomats and officials in Amman criticize the sanctions, which allow Iraqi authorities to ration distribution of food and medicine to the population. "The United States' Arab allies are fed up with the sanctions targeting civilians, who are being cleverly manipulated by the Iraqi regime, which appears as the people's savior while reinforcing its position" one Western diplomat told AFP.
A senior Jordanian official said the sanctions "have created a precedent by allowing the regime to control the calorie intake of each citizen. "The regime (in Baghdad) is coming out stronger by deciding how much food Iraqis will eat and by controlling the medicine they take, and this is what regional leaders told Mr. Powell," he said on condition of anonymity. "Furthermore, the sanctions have allowed Iraq to impose in the region a strategy that enables it to sidestep the blockade, and that is weakening the UN," the official added.
Over the past five months, several Arab countries, spearheaded by close US regional allies Jordan and Egypt, have organized "solidarity" flights to Baghdad in defiance of the UN air embargo on Iraq. Iraq has also signed free trade agreements with Egypt, Syria and Tunisia and is preparing to seal a similar accord with Amman and Beirut amid Arab concern to help ease the hardships of the Iraqi people.
"Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and even Syria have said they are willing to respect UN resolutions on Iraq, but they cannot force their population to accept American-imposed decisions," the official said. "King Abdullah was very clear, in his talks with Powell, on the need to lift sanctions on Iraq and to ensure that controls over Iraqi weapons would be discussed between Baghdad and the UN," the official added.
"France is proposing that sanctions be replaced by more vigilance and international controls on illegal weapons" a western diplomat said. “If the five permanent members of the Security Council agree ... this will help the success of the Arab summit," the Jordanian official said. "The most important thing for moderate Arab countries is to avoid further US-British air strikes on Iraq, which will toughen positions and trigger divisions at the Arab summit," the official added. This would place Jordan and Egypt, which have peace treaties with Israel, in a vulnerable position at the Arab forum, a diplomat added.
Arafat was due to meet Abdullah in the late afternoon Tuesday and brief him on his talks Sunday with Powell, a royal court official and Palestinian diplomats earlier told AFP. Powell on Sunday conveyed to Arafat conditions by Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon for a resumption of peace negotiations, which, mainly call for an end to the anti-Israeli uprising before talks can restart.
Mussa meanwhile commented on the decision by Israel's vanquished Labor Party to join a national unity government with Sharon saying he did not see a "bad omen" in such a development. It is the absence of a willingness for peace that is a bad omen, not Labor," Mussa told reporters before leaving Amman. — (AFP, Amman)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
