Profile: What is the Arab League?

The League of Arab States, or Arab League, is a voluntary association of countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic-speaking. It aims to strengthen ties among member states, coordinate their policies and direct them towards the common good.

• Founded: 1945
• Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt
• Members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen.
• Secretary-General: Amr Mousa

Timeline

• March 22, 1945: Seven independent Arab states of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and North Yemen formed Arab League. It was chaired by King Farouk of Egypt. The summit called for an end to Jewish immigration to Palestine, then under British rule.
• Beirut, November 13, 1956: Held in response to tripartite aggression against Egypt. Calls for withdrawal of enemy armies from Egyptian land. Pledges to support Algerian revolution against the French.
• Alexandria, September 5, 1964: The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) established. Calls for British withdrawal from southern Arabian Peninsula.
• Khartoum, August 29, 1967: In response to the Arab-Israeli war in June, it promises no recognition of Israel, no settlement and no peace with the Jewish state.
• 1967: Resumption of oil exports to the United States, Britain and West Germany following a brief boycott during the war because of their military support to Israel.
• 1971: UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain join the Arab League.
• Algiers, November 26, 1973: Summit held following the Arab-Israeli war in October. Sets conditions for peace with Israel for the first time.
• Riyadh, October 16, 1976: Palestine admitted as member. Calls for end to Lebanese fighting which started in the same year.
• Baghdad, November 2, 1978: Only 10 states take part due to disagreement over Egypt's Camp David peace treaty with Israel. Condemns the Egyptian move and prohibits unilateral peace agreements with Israel.
• Baghdad, April 1, 1979: Egypt's membership suspended. A total Arab economic boycott on Egypt was decided in the meeting to combat Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's signing of a peace treaty with Israel.
• June, 1979: Arab League Headquarters moved from Egypt to Tunisia.
• Amman, November 25, 1980: Calls for an end to the Iraq-Iran war, which started in September.
• Fez, November 25, 1981: The 12th Arab League summit, scheduled to last three days, ends abruptly after only one session when one of the key leaders of the Arab world, Syrian President Hafez Assad, declares that he would not be attending.
• Fez, September 6, 1982: The King Fahd peace initiative with Israel approved.
• Amman, November 11, 1987: Libya rejects a decision paving the way for Arab League member states to restore ties with Egypt and dubbs the summit "an American conference".
• Casablanca, May 23, 1989: Egypt rejoins the Arab League after 9 years of boycott and headquarters move back to Cairo. Pledges support for the Palestinian Intifada.
• Cairo, August 15, 1990: Condemns Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Decides to send Arab force to Saudi Arabia.
• Cairo, December 1, 1996: In an emergency meeting, it warns Israel that peace efforts would be endangered if Israel insists on expanding Jewish colonies.
• Cairo, April 22, 1998: Arab League members sign the first Arab convention against terrorism. The Egyptian-inspired treaty, which took four years to hash out, bars acts of terrorism against the convention's signatories.
• Cairo, July 2, 1998: The Arab League condemns US missile strikes against Afghanisan and Sudan and reiterates the League's "rejection of any interference in Iraq's internal affairs", criticising "any military act targeting sites which affect the daily life of Iraqis." Launches an "appeal for restraint in this sensitive region."
• Cairo, October 21, 2000: Pledges support for the second Palestinian Intifada. Creates the $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) Aqsa Fund to boost the Palestinian economy.
• May, 2001: Egypt's former foreign minister Amr Mousa takes charge of the 22-member Arab League.
• Beirut, March 27, 2002: Approves the Saudi peace initiative, which offers for the first time normal ties with Israel in return for full withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in 1967. The Council calls for lifting the sanctions on Iraq.
• Egypt, February 29, 2003: Arab League members strongly reject statements by US Secretary of State Colin Powell encouraging Arab leaders to issue the strongest possible statement demanding Iraqi president Saddam Hussain to go into exile.
• Tunis, May 22, 2004: Calls for withdrawal of "foreign forces" from Iraq. Approves an Arab political reform plan.
• Algiers, March 22-25, 2005: Algiers summit decides to re-launch 2002 initiative offering Israel normal relations in return for a pullback to its 1967 borders.
• Khartoum, March 28, 2006: Arab leaders offer support to African Union peacekeeping mission. Under the Khartoum declaration, Arab states pledge financial support to the African Union force.
• Riyadh, March 29, 2007: In Riyadh Declaration, Arab members "affirmed the option of just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option for the Arab nation; in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative that lays out the right path for reaching a peaceful settlement for the Arab-Israeli conflict".
• July 25, 2007: Foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, representing the Arab League, take a historic visit to Israel to present an Arab peace plan.

- Gulf News Archive