Seven Arab states put forward plans for Arab League reform

CAIRO, Feb 12, 2004 (MENA) — Seven Arab countries have put forward initiatives to reform the Arab League (AL) and enhance Arab action, AL Assistant Secretary of State Ahmad Bin-Hilli said Thursday.

Speaking to MENA, Bin-Hilli said the initiatives, introduced by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan, Qatar, Libya and Yemen, are all designed for enhancing economic and social integration.

He said the Egyptian initiative focused on how to ward off a repeat of Arab failures over the past decades.

He hailed the initiative as a way to settle Arab conflicts peacefully and enhance economic integration.

The ambassador said the Egyptian initiative also called for creating an Arab parliament, a security system and making amendments to the league’s voting system.

On the Saudi initiative, Bin-Hilli said it focused on economic cooperation represented in a free-trade zone, a customs union and an Arab common market.

The Arab League Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Ahmad Bin- Hilli also told MENA that the Sudanese initiative was aimed at confronting the daunting challenges facing the Arabs in the days ahead.

It also called for supporting the Iraqis and the Palestinians and ending the Arab-Israeli long-running conflict.

The Qatari initiative, he said, focuses on improving the educational process in the Arab world, enhancing freedom of expression and rooting out social and economic ills in Arab societies.

On the Libyan initiative, Bin-Hilli said it called for updating and amending some articles in the league’s charter and its appendices.

It also called for establishing an Arab security and defence council, he added.

He further said Yemen came up with a draft constitution for the Arab countries.

Bin-Hilli also stated that the Arab foreign ministers would meet on March 1-2 to discuss the new ideas before submitting them to the Arab leaders in their upcoming summit.