The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr.Abdul Ruff

Boycotted this year by half of the Arab world's leaders, the Arab League's two-day annual summit opened in March 29 in the Syrian capital Damascus in the midst of crises in the region. (While Lebanon is reeling under seriolus "ruling" crisis, Hamas is under virtual siege from Israeli forces with their borders closed down by Israel, followed by air-strikes killing many, resulting in panic situation created in Palestine and Palestinians breached a part of the border with Egypt to buy essential daily requirements). In all, nine heads of state from the Arab League's 22 members are not attending the Damascus gathering. Key leaders are staying away amid signs of a growing regional rift among the Arab states themselves.

The shaky start for the summit has been signaled by the absence of several Arab states and accusations followed by counter-allegations by member-states. They protest Syria's hard-line stances in nearly every crisis in the Mideast. They blame Syria for the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon, whose government is staying away completely. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced Syria for preventing the election of a consensus president in Beirut. Their absence is touted by Syria as a triumph over American influence.

The summit has been driven by deep divisions between Arab leaders, mainly over alleged Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs. Lebanon is boycotting the meeting, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced, in an unprecedented move, they are sending only low-level officials to the gathering in a snub to Syria, rather than their heads of state or even their prime ministers or foreign ministers. However, it has been billed by Syria as "the summit of joint Arab action" is expected to boost its prestige. Lebanon is boycotting the summit completely, the first time an Arab country has refused to send a delegation since Arab leaders began holding annual summits in 2000. The Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora accuses Syria of blocking attempts to elect a new Lebanese president.

Meanwhile, Syria billed it as a golden opportunity for regional unity but there is little sign of this. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem accused the US of trying to divide Arabs by urging allies to stay away. Syria has accused them in the past of being subservient to the US. Moualem told reporters that USA did their best to prevent the summit but they failed. "Their aim is to divide the Arab world." He promised that there would be "no trace of the United States on the summit's work or agenda".

Washington last week urged its Arab allies in the region to think twice before attending the summit, accusing Syria of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon. As a result, Egypt is sending a junior minister while powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Jordan will be represented by their ambassadors to the Arab League. Lebanon has boycotted the summit altogether.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is hosting the leaders of Algeria, the Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates-only half of the 22-member league's heads of state. The two camps are in a yearlong struggle for control of Lebanon: US allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are strong supporters of Saniora's government, while Syria backs Hezbollah, the militant group that leads the Lebanese opposition. Arab countries, which are mostly Sunni-led, are also nervous about Syria's controversial alliance with Shiite Iran. They view host country Syria as a trouble-maker, too close to Iran and a destructive force in divided Lebanon.

Lebanon has been without a president since the end of November and has been mired in political crisis for more than a year because of feuding between the Western-backed parliamentary majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran. In a televised address on Friday ahead of the summit, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said his government had decided to boycott the meeting because of Syrian meddling in his country's affairs.

The Lebanese crisis, the worst since the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war, is widely seen as an extension of the conflict pitting the United States and its regional allies against Syria and Iran. Because of Lebanon's absence, the Arab foreign ministers have decided to adopt the same statement decided in Cairo three weeks ago which calls for supporting Lebanon as well as the Arab initiative on Lebanon," he said. That initiative calls for the election of army chief General Michel Sleiman as president, forming a national unity government in which no single party has veto power and a new electoral law.

The League of Arab States, or Arab League, is a voluntary association of countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking. It has 22 members, including Palestine, which the league regards as an independent state. It aims to strengthen ties among member states, coordinate their policies and direct them towards the common good.

The idea of the Arab League was mooted in 1942 by the British, who wanted to rally Arab countries in war against Germany, against the Axis powers. However, the league did not take off until March 1945, just before the end of World War II. At that time the issues that dominated the league's agenda were freeing those Arab countries still under colonial rule, and preventing the Jewish minority in Palestine from creating a Jewish state.

The highest body of the league is the Council, composed of representatives of member states, usually foreign ministers, their representatives or permanent delegates. Each member state has one vote, irrespective of its size. The council meets twice a year, in March and September, and may convene a special session at the request of two members.

The annual summit is frequently plagued by no-shows, often because of personal disputes among leaders. But this year, the differences are sharper and the snubs even more pointed. With the no-shows, the headliners at this year's summit are Assad, Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who were arriving with other delegations.

The out come of the summit is easy to be discerned right now; there would no resolution of the Lebanon and Palestine crises in the forum. It appears the division within the region is now clear. There is no shortage of crises in their region but Arab states disagree over who is to blame and what is to be done and it seems unlikely they will resolve those differences now without key members present. If they do, that could further complicate the crises. The West says that there are now two axes - Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah are on one side and the rest are on the another end. Syrian axis is coherent and they have a clear objective and they are working in an organized way.

At the meeting aheld on 27 March, the Arab League foreign ministers also agreed to re-endorse the 2002 Arab initiative for Middle East peace but expressed their frustration at Israel's refusal to follow up on their plan, after Muallem hinted that it could be rethought.

But Damascus may benefit from the absences, which ensure the summit will not pressure it to change its stances toward Lebanon or the Palestinians. Also, Syria showed it won't be forced to exchange its strong alliance with Iran for approval from Arabs. By staying away, the countries aimed to show Damascus the diplomatic cost of its hard line on Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it is likely instead to strengthen Damascus' alliance with Iran and the Hamas and Hezbollah groups.

But an isolated Syria could even revise its policy in the neighborhood. However, no conclusions could be drawn until the close of the summit and unless the results are seen influencing the positive course of Mideast crisis.