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Saudi English Daily On Damascus Summit: A Summit In Name Only
In an editorial, the Saudi daily Arab News stated that the Arab summit scheduled to be held in Damascus next week is doomed to failure, and that a clear message is being sent by the many Arab leaders who are skipping the event and sending lower-level representation.
The paper pointed out that the Lebanese factions have failed to resolve their differences, and that some Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, see Syria as having done little to pressure its allies in Lebanon, in particular Hizbullah, to move toward reconciliation. It said that Syria's special relationship with Tehran was not endearing it to moderate Arab states nor to the West, and that it is being accused of taking sides in the Palestinian rift for giving refuge to the Hamas political leadership.
The Arab world today is no better than it was a year ago, when the last summit was held. But even "successful" Arab summits have failed to resolve the most immediate challenges or reach popular expectations, the editorial said.
It added that this summit may go down in history as the last of the Arab summits, if not in occurrence then in substance. It accused the Arabs of failing to appreciate and copy the examples of other regional groupings which have employed their alliances to confront their differences rather than amplifying them. By using the summit event to pressure Damascus over its own policies, it said, the risk of derailing the entire Arab League organization has increased to dangerous levels.
The paper concludes by asking what will follow the ritual convening of the Arab summit in Damascus, and says that barring a miraculous breakthrough, the meeting will further cripple Arab collaboration in face of regional and international challenges. The organization has failed to respond to crises, whether in Gaza, Darfur, Somalia, or Iraq.
Source: Arab News, Saudi Arabia, March 26, 2008
Posted at: 2008-03-27
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