Arab Perspective: Yet another meet to boost peace process

U.S. President George W. Bush had a very full agenda last week, with a series of four summits, two of them in Europe and two in the Middle East. However, they all had one issue in common - peace in the Arab region. Bush started his tour in St. Petersburg and then flew to Evian to participate in the G8 summit. Next, he joined Arab leaders in two summits taking place in the region, one in Sharm el Sheikh, a gathering of Arab leaders supportive of the U.S. plan, and the other in Aqaba, grouping the U.S. president with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers, in addition to Jordan's King Abdullah. Azza Munif, writing for Gulf News Research Centre, reviews the Arab press comments about the expectations from these summits

The Middle East region has been on top of the agenda of world leaders gathered in St Petersburg and Evian, and it was also the principal subject of discussion during the Sharm el Sheikh and Aqaba summits, writes Al Jazeera (Saudi Arabia) in its editorial comment.

The G8 summit at Evian represented another occasion to boost the stagnating peace process in the region, although it is not a conventional G8 matter of concern. Indeed, a G8 high-level meeting is normally expected to concentrate mainly on economic issues such as the development of global economy. However, economic expansion depends greatly on international security and stability and cannot be considered in isolation from these two elements, says Al Jazeera.

That is why the question of peace in the region drew the attention of leaders participating in the summit, who consider it one of the most complicated and unresolved conflicts until now. In its turn, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, reiterated its position to the world leaders with regard to the implementation of a final and fair settlement of the Arab Israeli conflict, adds Al Jazeera.

On the other hand, the Sharm el Sheikh summit will probably play a major role in promoting the implementation of the roadmap plan for peace and, consequently, stability in the region.

In essence, the four successive summits that have taken place within the short span of less than two weeks have in common one goal - strengthening mutual und-erstanding between the world's countries in order to promote better commercial and financial transactions in a climate of peace and order. To facilitate the achievement of the stated goal, justice and equity must be the guiding principles for the international community.

For that purpose, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could serve as a model to test the real dedication and willingness of the international community to work towards the settlement of this long-lasting problem in accordance with human principles, concludes Al Jazeera.

The successive summits attended by President Bush, starting from St Petersburg, continuing with Evian and ending in Aqaba represent glaring proof and a clear indicator of the change in Washington's strategy after the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq and the change in rule that followed in these countries. * * *