http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4376599.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 23 March, 2005, 17:14 GMT
Summits that showcase Arab disunity
By Heba Saleh
BBC News
Some analysts say the League is too weak to make big decisions
"The Arabs have agreed not to agree."
That is the cynical refrain often heard on Arab streets when the region's
leaders hold their annual summit.
Arab public opinion has long learnt that these Arab League summits are
almost invariably disappointing.
On many occasions they have been marred by public disputes which showcase
Arab disunity rather than its intended opposite.
Last year, the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi stormed out of the opening
session criticising almost everyone else attending.
The year before he exchanged insults with the de facto ruler of Saudi
Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah.
That was during the Sharm al-Sheikh summit held about two weeks before
the American invasion of Iraq.
It was another divided meeting which failed to come up with anything
beyond a feeble expression of support for Baghdad.
The US had already arranged to launch its military campaign from the
territories of Iraq's Arab neighbours.
Weak and unenforceable
Most summits have tended to conclude with the adoption of watered-down
resolutions which the leaders seem to forget the moment they walk out of the
meeting hall.
Arab League rules dictate that resolutions have to gain the unanimous
backing of all member states before they can be adopted.
This elderly institution has been deaf to every big event because
that is the best way of escaping responsibility
Saudi commentator Abdul Rahman al-Rashed
The need to satisfy everyone often translates into weak and unenforceable
decisions.
It also means inter-Arab disputes can rarely be effectively addressed.
In the current summit, which comes as the League celebrates its 60th
anniversary, the crisis surrounding the Syrian presence in Lebanon is simply
not an item on the formal agenda.
That is because neither Damascus nor its client government in Beirut have
placed it there.
Dream remains
The omission provoked scathing criticism from the prominent Saudi
columnist Abdul Rahman al-Rashed.
"The Arab League has become used to treating the patient's wounds only
after his death," wrote Mr Rashed.
"This elderly institution has been deaf to every big event because that
is the best way of escaping responsibility.
"But it can also be said that the art of avoidance has killed the Arab
League."
But even if the Arab public is only too aware of the weakness of the
League and its inability to incarnate a strong and united Arab position, they
have not abandoned the dream that one day the Arab world will be able to act in
concert.
There are no calls to dismantle the League, only a frustrated popular
desire to see it lay the ground for some form of closer Arab co-operation, if
not Arab unity.
'Bar too high'
But some commentators say that people expect too much from the
organisation.
"Those who imagined that the League would resolve the Palestinian problem
or achieve Arab unity have been placing the bar too high," said Abdul Moneim
Said, the director of al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
"The Arab League has succeeded in creating a forum for Arab countries to
come together and express their views to the world.
Overshadowing all talks is the requirement to reach consensus
"But it is an organisation of sovereign states, each of which only
represents itself."
There is little doubt, however, that the League's effectiveness as a
regional organisation has been hampered by divisions between members.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war in which Arab forces
were part of the US-led coalition which freed the emirate split the
organisation for more than a decade.
Deep rifts
On many occasions, Arab governments have decided that their national
interests were better served by having strong relations with the US even if it
angered other Arab countries.
Divisions over the US invasion of Iraq in 1991 was one example.
Another which also caused deep rifts within the Arab League was Egypt's
decision in 1978 to seek peace with Israel and closer ties with the US.
Arab governments are aware of the need to strengthen the organisation.
So far, however, they do not appear to have agreed on any substantial
steps.
One reform under discussion in Algiers has been the establishment of an
appointed Arab parliament attached to the organisation.
The measure was adopted in the final summit communique, but analysts have
dismissed the proposal as laughable.
They say without first introducing democracy within member states, it
will be futile to establish what will be become just another pointless talking
shop.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
