Sudan, United Arab Emirates object to granting non-Arab countries observer status in Arab League

CAIRO, Egypt, Feb 09, 2004 (AP) — The United Arab Emirates and Sudan told the Arab League on Monday that they object to non-Arab countries being granted observer status in the body.

The issue was to be addressed by league foreign ministers at a March meeting after Turkey, Ethiopia, Iran and Eritrea formally requested to be granted observer status late last year.

In separate letters sent to the Arab League’s secretariat and obtained by The Associated Press, Sudan and the Emirates argued that offering membership, even observer status, to non-Arab countries was a violation of the league’s charter, which has no provisions governing the entry of observer nations.

Both countries also noted that there were disputes between some league members and some countries seeking to become observers, though they did not refer to any by name.

There was no immediate response from the Arab League.

The Emirates has a decades-long dispute with Iran over ownership of three strategic Gulf islands, Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands, which Iran took over in 1971 after British forces left the region.

In 1992, Iran declared sole sovereignty over the islands, which dominate the approach to the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

The dispute over the islands remains the main stumbling block to stronger ties between both countries and the Emirates has called on Iran to “end its occupation” of the islands and has suggested international arbitration. Iran has said its sovereignty over the islands is nonnegotiable but that it is ready for direct talks to resolve “misunderstandings.”

In Africa, Sudan accuses Eritrea, its eastern neighbor, of supporting rebels in its Darfur province, where almost a year of fighting has caused nearly 100,000 Sudanese to flee into exile, mostly into Chad.

A number of Eritrean opposition groups – particularly Islamic groups – are living in Sudan, many with political refugee status.

Relations between Sudan and Eritrea were restored in 2000 after six years of charges that each was supporting rebel groups fighting the other’s government, but have since soured greatly.