Arab League denies disagreement with Libya over Sudan’s Darfur
CAIRO, Oct 21, 2004 (Al-Sharq al-Awsat) — Informed sources in the Arab League General Secretariat have denied rumours of disagreements between Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa and the Libyan leadership, against the background of Musa’s non-participation in the recent Tripoli summit on Darfur.
High-level diplomatic sources at the Arab League downplayed statements made by Libyan Foreign Minister Abd-al-Rahman Shalqam about the Arab League secretary-general in an interview he gave to one of the Gulf papers.
The sources pointed out that there are no disagreements or silent crises between the secretary-general and Libya, and that Libya is perhaps the only Arab state that has had the highest number of visits by the secretary-general over the past years.
The sources said that the Arab League’s absence from the Sirte summit despite the major role it has played in the Sudan issue over the past few years, is a Libyan decision – given that Tripoli is the sponsor and the host of the summit.
The sources underlined that the Arab League is not concerned about participating or not participating in the summit as much as it is interested in an active Arab role and stance in dealing with the challenges facing Sudan in particular and the region in general.
Meanwhile, Amr Musa will travel to New York in early November on a three-day visit during which he will attend the meeting of the international committee of senior officials set up by the UN secretary-general over a year ago. This committee, which includes high-level officials from various continents, will examine and discuss the sources of threats to world peace and security.
Material from the BBC Monitoring Service