Albawaba.com - Amman
Arch foes Iraq and Kuwait seemed as far apart as ever Sunday night after two days of Arab ministerial meetings in Amman failed to bring them closer together and save Tuesday's Arab summit from an embarrassing lack of consensus, said reports.
The delegations taking part in the meeting declined to comment on the result of the meeting but a diplomatic source, who was in the meeting, told Albawaba.com that the session was extremely tense with no change to the position of either Iraq or Kuwait.
The source added that Monday’s meetings will be confined to few foreign ministers, but he declined to name who is taking part in these meetings.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah al-Khatib told reporters that "consultations are still underway," adding that foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League were searching for a way to keep both sides satisfied, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, the ministers meeting ahead of the first regular Arab summit did agree to back Iraq's pledge of one billion euros (900 million dollars) in aid to the Palestinians suffering a crippling Israeli economic blockade since violence erupted six months ago, according to an approved draft resolution.
But they were still wrangling over Iraq's demand for Arab countries to "unilaterally break" the international sanctions slapped on Baghdad after the invasion, with Kuwait opposing Iraq's efforts to reintegrate itself into the Arab world, an Arab official told AFP.
Lack of agreement forced the ministers to separate the Iraqi-Kuwaiti issue from the other points on the summit's agenda such as support for the Palestinians, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf had made no efforts to conciliate Kuwait during his opening speech on Saturday, repeating phrases used by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to describe Kuwait.
"Damned are the ignoble ones," he said, causing some of his counterparts to raise their eyebrows in displeasure.
Sahhaf said that the Arab ministers were working to reach a suitable result, but "no formula has been reached until now," Petra quoted him as saying
Another official, Palestinian representative to the Arab League Mohammad Subeih said that the Arab ministers are still deliberating the Iraqi issue to reach a conciliatory formula "that would be accepted by all.”
According to AFP, the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Yemen later met separately with Sahhaf in an Amman hotel to convince him to "tone down" his position on Kuwait.
But by late Sunday, consultations were still at a "very delicate stage, Khatib said as Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz arrived in town to help examine the proposed resolutions on Iraq.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival, Aziz said President Saddam Hussein's message to the summit "reflects Iraq's viewpoint on the current Arab situation particularly with regard to the Palestinian issue," Petra quoted him as saying.
Asked about what Iraq expects from the summit, Aziz said Iraq has no demands of its own and the Iraqi issue has become a pan-Arab national issue.
"We do not have demands of a subjective nature, rather, there is an Arab interest that concerns all Arabs," he told reporters .
The Iraqi issue is not the issue of Iraq alone it is the issue of all Arabs, he added.
Several Arab ministers said they expected a statement on Iraq to be "brief and written in general terms" and one of them said it will be kept a "closely guarded secret" until the Arab leaders receive it at the summit, according to AFP.
Kuwait has agreed to four points of the resolution, including a call for the resumption of regular flights to Baghdad and a vague call for the UN Security Council to lift sanctions on Iraq, an Arab official told the agency.
But Iraq has failed to gain approval for a fifth resolution calling on Arab countries to unilaterally break the sanctions.
Meanwhile, the statement was expected to "guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kuwait" which still feels threatened by its giant neighbor a decade after the tiny emirate was liberated.
If the ministers fail to agree before Tuesday, they will turn to their leaders who could call for the creation of a "follow-up committee" that would be asked to find new means to deal with the Iraqi issue.
Whatever the outcome, Arab officials questioned by AFP ruled out any "spectacular" resolution on Iraq.
"Our goal is to gradually bring Kuwait and Iraq closer together and pave the way for future meetings with officials from both countries as part of efforts to reconcile the two countries," an Arab official said.
The foreign ministers, meanwhile, agreed on most of the other points of the agenda including moral and financial support for the six-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and reactivation of an Arab boycott of the Jewish state, said reports.
Arab leaders had also reached a "strong consensus" on supporting Palestinian demands for the UN Security Council to provide international observers to protect Palestinians in the occupied territories, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told reporters.
Arab leaders will also threaten to cut ties with countries that set up embassies in Jerusalem or recognize the city as Israel's capital, according to a draft resolution adopted Sunday ahead of an Arab summit.
The summit is expected to warn Israel not to turn its back on the Arab-Israeli peace process, launched in Madrid in 1991 on the principle of land for peace.
The foreign ministers will also submit to their leaders a resolution asking them to accelerate steps to create an Arab free economic zone due to be formed in 2007.
Meanwhile, Arab leaders began arriving in Amman for the summit including Libyan leader Moammer Kadhafi and the vice president of Iraq's ruling Revolutionary Council Ezzat Ibrahim.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also arrived Sunday in Amman to attend the summit as an observer.
Upon his arrival, Annan expressed pleasure for the invitation to attend the summit which is held in a critical stage in the region and Arab's affairs, said Petra.
He told reporters that he "looks forward to meeting with His majesty and Arab leaders to discuss all issues of common concern.
Also Mauritania's Prime Minister Sheikh El Afi Weld Muhammed Khouna, arrived Sunday, said the Jordanian news agency.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s and Jordan universities were stage for demonstrations by students calling on the summit to take firm stands against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands, said reports.
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