Peace offer will expire soon, Arabs warn

Doha/Cairo: Arab foreign ministers warned on Saturday that an Arab Middle East peace plan on offer since 2002 will not stay on the table for ever, according to a draft declaration ahead of their annual summit that starts on Monday.

"The peace initiative that is proposed today will not be on offer for a long time," read a copy of the draft declaration, according to agencies. "Arab commitment to this initiative is dependent on an Israeli acceptance of it."

Saudi King Abdullah had warned during a January Arab economic summit that the Saudi-inspired initiative, which offers full normalisation of ties with Israel in return for its withdrawal from occupied territories, will not last for ever.

The warning came as Arab foreign ministers urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to annul its arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Al Bashir.

The draft, to be submitted to Arab leaders at the summit on Monday, calls for "cancelling the measures" adopted by the ICC against Al Bashir over alleged war crimes in conflict-ravaged Darfur. It also "urges all Arab countries not to cooperate with the measures of the ICC" against Al Bashir.

Meanwhile, Egypt on Saturday said that President Hosni Mubarak would not attend the summit. "Egypt has decided that Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mufeed Shehab will lead the Egyptian delegation to the Arab summit in Doha," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al Gaith yesterday. He added that Shehab would relay to the Arab summit "Egypt's views on the current Arab situation and challenges facing the Arab nation". Cairo gave no explanation for the low-profile representation in the summit.

Analysts, however, attribute the step to Egypt's dismay at what it saw as unjustified Qatari criticism of the Egyptian position during Israel's 22-day onslaught on Gaza in late December. In Doha, a top Qatari official said 16 leaders from the 22-member Arab League would be attending the summit. "We have to live up to our responsibilities and work towards closing ranks," Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jabr Al Thani said.

Discussions: UAE upbeat on success

Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, expressed optimism about the success of the Arab summit to be held in Doha on Monday. He said differences of opinion are bound to be there but such differences are nothing unusual.

"A positive atmosphere will prevail over the 21st Arab summit during which frank discussions will take place in order to achieve a comprehensive Arab reconciliation that leads to further achieve the required Arab solidarity," Shaikh Abdullah said in a statement to Kuwaiti News Agency.

Shaikh Abdullah noted that inter-Arab relations would see more tension if such differences are not solved. On a question about UAE's three occupied islands, he said there is a unified Arab position that supports the right of the UAE over its three islands, and expressed hope that Iran would respond positively to the UAE's call for solving the issue through negotiations or the international arbitration or by referring the case to the International Court of Justice.

- WAM