Arab League chief to visit Sudan, Algeria for talks on Arab summit

CAIRO, April 22, 2004 (MENA) — Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Amr Musa will visit Oman next week as part of consultations with Arab leaders on holding the postponed Arab summit.

In statements to reporters on Thursday 22 April, Musa said he will later on make a tour of Algeria, Sudan and Djibouti to complete consultations in this respect.

Israel, he added, has turned its back on the peace process and this should be taken into consideration in discussing the latest developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict by the forthcoming Arab summit.

He underlined that the Greater Middle East project was not on the agenda of the coming Arab summit. The summit will handle challenges facing the Arab nation, including projects and developments which could affect the present and future of the region.

On reconsidering Arab stances in light of the negative US stance towards the Palestinian cause, the AL chief told reporters this should be probed by Arab ministerial meetings and the Arab summit as well.

Musa reiterated that 22 May was an officially proposed date to hold the summit and that it was under consultation. In light of that date, he added, the date for the Arab foreign ministers meeting was agreed to be on May 8-10.

A good number of Arab leaders have accepted the date proposed for the summit and even those who called for more preparations for the summit had not opposed the date.

Musa welcomed a proposal to hold an expanded conference of Iraqi powers. United Nations special envoy for Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi is also for holding such a conference, Musa added.