Under extraordinary secrecy -- even paper was banned for fear documents could be leaked -- Arab foreign ministers tried Saturday to find common ground on Israel, Iraq and US-proposed political reforms in an effort to resurrect a summit of their leaders.
But opening at least part of the discussions to the public, Jordan's foreign minister held a news conference to urge Arab nations to do more on advancing the peace process with Israel, telling them not to wait for Israeli concessions before drafting some of their own.
The summit of the 22-member Arab League, scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March, was postponed at the last minute because of disagreements among ministers on Israel and the political reforms.
In an effort to present a unified Arab voice to the world, organizers imposed unusual secrecy on the ministers' gathering.
Visual aids were projected onto a screen, not handed out on paper, to avoid copies from making their way into public hands. Ministers held most of their meetings without aides to reduce the possibility of leaks to the news media.
Ministers did not speak to reporters as they entered the meeting, and no news conferences were scheduled.
An Arab league spokesman said the secrecy was "out of respect for the Arab leaders" so their summit doesn't get upstaged by their own ministers.
But some details of the meeting emerged.
Delegates, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said a new date for the summit and US-proposed reforms in the Arab world were not discussed Saturday.
Delegates spent much time debating a letter from US President George W. Bush to Jordan's King Abdullah II, they said.
In the letter, Bush did not give guarantees for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Arabs had sought, but he appeared to back away from assurances he gave to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month.
Some delegates had said the letter didn't go far enough, according to people who attended the meeting, but Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher indicated the consensus was that the letter had done more good than harm.
He also urged Arab nations to do more to advance the peace process.
"Since the United States is saying in a written letter that the issues of final status are the responsibility of the two parties alone, let's build on this stance, benefit from it, and use it to move the peace process," he said.
Arabs have asked for guarantees from the US on two issues: that an eventual Palestinian state would encompass the West Bank and that Palestinian refugees who fled in 1948 from land that now lies in Israel be allowed to return.
In the letter, Bush said those are issues to be discussed in final negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Last month, he angered Arab nations by telling Sharon he supports Israel's retention of some West Bank settlements and opposes resettlement of the refugees.
Bush appeared to be backing off the assurances to Sharon in an effort to reach out to the Arab world in the wake of the prisoner-abuse scandal in Iraq.
Muasher appealed for initiative on the Arab side.
"In the end, the one that is going to move the peace process is the Arab side," he said.
Since the Tunisia meeting collapsed in March, the situation in the Middle East has become even more complicated, with Bush's letter of guarantees to Sharon, an upsurge in violence in Iraq, a scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops, an Israeli assassination of a Hamas leader and terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.
The ministers also discussed a Yemeni initiative that calls for US-led forces in Iraq to be replaced by a multinational force under UN oversight. It does not commit Arab troops to Iraq.
Arab League official Hisham Youssef indicated delegates weren't ruling out committing Arab forces to Iraq, but that they would need to clarify command structures before that could happen.
The initiative also seeks an Iraqi meeting, held under UN and Arab League auspices, on writing an Iraqi constitution and laying out the framework of a new Iraqi government. UN officials have proposed a similar idea. Delegates said the Iraqi delegation was not willing to discuss the new ideas.
The Yemeni initiative repeats Arab calls for a UN Security Council resolution to commit Israel to end violence, but it also seeks a Palestinian commitment to "end all forms of armed resistance" -- which would be a dramatic change for Arab nations.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS