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Brazil: First Arab-Latin American summit opens
The first Arab-Latin American summit opens in Brasilia Tuesday with the participation of 33 countries. The summit, proposed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, seeks to increase solidarity between Arab and Latin American countries in the international circles, particularly the UN Security Council and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to SANA, the summit also comes as part of rallying efforts of the developing countries and support their rights, particularly those related to the Middle East peace as the summit would discuss issues concerning Palestine, Iraq, the situation in Sudan as well as reforming the UN.
It is expected the summit would lay the ground for an Arab and Latin American role on the international arena as a bloc with a saying in the filed of economics politics in the future.
Arab diplomats in the Brazilian capital expect that the summit would politically support the stances of the Arab countries in their efforts to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East on the basis of the UN resolutions and the establishment of a Palestinian independent state and the Israeli withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories back to June4 th 1967 border line.
The diplomats said the summit would also call for freeing the Middle East from nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. It will demand all the parties concerned to and the international community to join the Non-proliferation Treaty and open their nuclear facilities to international inspection, in obvious reference to Israel, the only party which hasn’t so far joined the agreement.
Arab sources stressed ahead of the summit the importance of reaching a proper mechanism for cooperation and coordination between Arab and Latin American countries through convening regular summits, maybe every two years alternatively, so that this gathering serves as a future framework in the benefit of the peoples of both sides.
In this regard, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim noted that he sees no reason for the U.S. to be concerned over this summit which represents Brazil’s policy in creating a new trend of cooperation towards a prosperous future and reaching a more fruitful cooperation. The US demand to send an observer to the event was rejected.
On the sidelines of the summit, an agreement on free trade will be signed between the Gulf states and Latin America. Another trade preferential agreement is due to be signed between Egypt and the common market in Latin America (MERCOSOR) which groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Arab businessmen representing several economic sectors will take part in the trade and industrial exhibition that hosts 800 Arab and foreign in Sao Paolo, Brazil’s industrial and trade capital.
The summit, which comes after a visit by the Brazilian President to five Arab countries in January2003 . will also give a new momentum to the trade exchanges between the Arab countries and Brazil where 12 million Arabs live.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/183432
It is expected the summit would lay the ground for an Arab and Latin American role on the international arena as a bloc with a saying in the filed of economics politics in the future.
Arab diplomats in the Brazilian capital expect that the summit would politically support the stances of the Arab countries in their efforts to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East on the basis of the UN resolutions and the establishment of a Palestinian independent state and the Israeli withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories back to June4 th 1967 border line.
The diplomats said the summit would also call for freeing the Middle East from nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. It will demand all the parties concerned to and the international community to join the Non-proliferation Treaty and open their nuclear facilities to international inspection, in obvious reference to Israel, the only party which hasn’t so far joined the agreement.
Arab sources stressed ahead of the summit the importance of reaching a proper mechanism for cooperation and coordination between Arab and Latin American countries through convening regular summits, maybe every two years alternatively, so that this gathering serves as a future framework in the benefit of the peoples of both sides.
In this regard, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim noted that he sees no reason for the U.S. to be concerned over this summit which represents Brazil’s policy in creating a new trend of cooperation towards a prosperous future and reaching a more fruitful cooperation. The US demand to send an observer to the event was rejected.
On the sidelines of the summit, an agreement on free trade will be signed between the Gulf states and Latin America. Another trade preferential agreement is due to be signed between Egypt and the common market in Latin America (MERCOSOR) which groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Arab businessmen representing several economic sectors will take part in the trade and industrial exhibition that hosts 800 Arab and foreign in Sao Paolo, Brazil’s industrial and trade capital.
The summit, which comes after a visit by the Brazilian President to five Arab countries in January2003 . will also give a new momentum to the trade exchanges between the Arab countries and Brazil where 12 million Arabs live.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/183432
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According to a draft of the document approved by ministers on Monday, the first Summit of South American-Arab Countries will demand that Israel disbands settlements "including those in East Jerusalem" and withdraw to its borders before the 1967 Middle East war.
The draft lashes out at US economic sanctions against Syria and denounces terrorism, but asserts the right of people "to resist foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legality and in compliance with international humanitarian law".
In the two-day summit starting on Tuesday, leaders and top government officials from 34 South American, Arab and North African countries will also support sweeping political and economic efforts to tighten links between the regions, the draft says.
"The document is a very good one, and deals with all the issues that are important to the two sides," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "This has been a long time coming."
Boosting ties
The summit, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is a move to promote South-South cooperation among developing countries, and is aimed at countering the dominance of the United States in the global political arena.
Officials on Monday said the leaders will also sign an agreement between oil-rich Arab countries and a key South American economic bloc, leading to negotiations for a free trade area linking the two regions.
The trade zone would eventually link the six Arabic member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council with South America's Mercosur bloc, said GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman al-Attiyah. Mercosur's fully-fledged members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The GCC's members are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.
Speaking to Arab and South American business executives and government officials ahead of the summit, al-Attiyah said the two regions were a natural fit for each other because millions of people of Arabic descent lived in South America.
Bright prospects
Luiz Furlan, Brazil's minister of industry and development, acknowledged that trade was paltry now between the two regions, but said there were strong indications it would grow rapidly.
Brazil, South America's largest economy, exports just $4 billion annually to Arabic countries and imports $4.1 billion mostly in petroleum.
But Brazil's exports have risen 50% over the last several years, and overall two-way trade of $8.1 billion could nearly double to $15 billion within three years, Furlan said.
"Today we are beginning a new stage in the trajectory in the relations of South America and the Arab world," Furlan said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EBDA98B9-05A2-4B7F-A115-CD31A5F5D583.htm
“We have a historic opportunity to lay the foundation of a strong cooperation between South America and the Arab world,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told the opening ceremony, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The great challenge is to design a new geography of international economy and trade,” said the landmark summit’s host.
Brazilian Trade Minister Luiz Furlan said he wanted to see Brazil's trade with Arab countries, which totaled8 . 1billion dollars in2004 , double to more than $ 15billion in the next three years.
Summit co-chair and current Arab summit leader Algerian President Abdelaziz Buteflika also was to address the conference.
Proposed by da Silva after a visit to the Middle East in2003 , the two-day summit brings together leaders from 12 South American and 22 Arab nations.
Five Arab countries are represented by a head of state, and nine South American presidents are on hand.
The summiteers have on their plates promoting economic cooperation, unifying stances in international fora like the World Trade Organization and the United Nations as well as scaling down dependence on the US and Europe.
Mercosur - the trade bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - was to sign a framework agreement with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council on starting negotiations aimed at achieving free trade, officials said.
Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia has also invited the summiteers to a meeting in Riyadh of oil producing and consuming countries later in the year.
The second summit is expected to take place in 2008 in an Arab nation, not yet disclosed.
Key Declaration
A draft of the summit declaration, obtained by Reuters, recognizes and supports “the rights of states and peoples to resist foreign occupation”.
It also expresses concern over American sanctions on Syria.
The document underlined the need to combat terrorism “in all its forms” through international cooperation.
It further calls for holding an international conference under UN auspices to define terrorism.
The draft urges respect of “the unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq and of not interfering in its internal affairs.”
It also calls for sweeping cooperation between the two regions on the economic front, including promoting reforms in the international financial system to better serve the needs of the developing countries.
“The document is a very good one and deals with all issues that are important to the two sides,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told the Associated Press.
US Isolation
Despite its lofty goals, the summit has been largely ignored by Arab leaders with only five taking part.
Besides co-chair Buteflika, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani and Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh are attending.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country is the most populated in the Middle East and strategically located between Africa and Asia, has delegated Abul Gheit to represent him.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, and Morocco's King Mohammed VI have both turned down the invitation to show up in the summit, according to AFP.
Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi are also shunning the summit, along with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Arab diplomatic sources in Brasilia told AFP that the Bush administration pressured several Arab countries to stay away after the host turned down a US request for observer status at the summit.
Some analysts consider the rejection of the American request as another sign of worsening relations between Washington and the countries it has traditionally viewed as its backyard, according to Reuters.
Larry Birns, director of the Washington-based think tank the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said he had never seen the US so isolated from Latin America.
“Latin America went through a withering experience of American bullying to gain support for the Iraq coalition, and now El Salvador is the only country in the region with troops left in Iraq.
“It's part of the shakedown of the repercussions of Bush administration foreign policy,” Birns said.
South American nations were overwhelmingly opposed to the US-led invasion-turned-occupation of oil-rich Iraq.
US, Israeli Concerns
The summit's draft declaration clause on the right of people to resist occupation has raised concerns from both the United States and Israel, Reuters said.
“We would be concerned about anything in a declaration that could be misinterpreted as providing justification or support for terrorism,” claimed a US official in Washington.
An Israeli diplomatic source in the Brazilian capital said Lula is “clearly more sympathetic to the Palestinian discourse than to our positions.”
The Israeli Embassy also said in a statement that “the positions and worries of Israel regarding the summit have been expressed” to Brazil and other South American governments.
Brazil said the summit would support a peaceful solution to the Middle East problem, but solutions always must consider justice for all peoples in the region.
“Obviously the positions these countries take won't please everyone,” said Vera Pedrosa, an undersecretary at Brazil's Foreign Ministry, who helped draft the declaration.
Most countries in the Americas have immigrant communities of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian and other Arab origins, and their influence in local business communities and politics has grown in past decades.
Current Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca is of Palestinian descent while Argentine ex-president Carlos Menem is the son of Syrian immigrants.
http://islamonline.org/English/News/2005-05/10/article04.shtml
Banding together in an event aimed at dampening the dominance of developed countries, they ended the two-day Summit of South American-Arab Countries by staking out positions that are at odds with US policy on several fronts.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and American-backed Iraqi President Jalal Talabani joined dozens of other nations in approving a Declaration of Brasilia condemning terrorism, denouncing US sanctions against Syria and supporting moves to give developing countries more clout on the international stage.
The summit brought 9000 troops to the Brazilian capital in the tightest security in years. Tanks were posted outside the convention centre, where 15 heads of state and top officials from 34 South American, Middle Eastern and North African nations met.
Pushing a goal he has pursued since becoming the country's first elected leftist leader, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva urged participants to fight for free-trade rules that help the developing world's masses instead of rich countries and multinational corporations.
Palestinian crisis
Arab states, under pressure from Washington to reform authoritarian governments, chose to focus on the Palestinian crisis.
The declaration calls for tighter political and economic links between the regions but demands that Israel disband settlements and retreat to its borders before the 1967 Mideast war.
The summit lost lustre with the absence of the strongest voices in the Arab world, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.
Argentine President Nestor Kirchner jetted out on Tuesday night in a move interpreted as a snub of Silva. Argentina and Brazil, the continent's two largest economies, historically have jockeyed to be South America's leading power, and Kirchner reportedly is upset with Silva's insistence that Brazil should be given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Leaders from Qatar and Chile, along with high-level delegations from Saudi Arabia and Jordan, also left before the closing ceremony.
In all, seven of 22 Arab heads of state attended, while eight of the 12 South American leaders came to Brasilia. The United States requested to attend as an observer, but Brazil refused.
Terrorism
The document denounces terrorism but asserts the right of people "to resist foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legality and in compliance with international humanitarian law".
The clause - a clear reference to the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon's Hizb Allah, groups condemned by the US and Israel - drew criticism from Jewish groups.
On Iraq, it stresses respect for the “unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq and of not interfering in its internal affairs.”
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told summit leaders he wanted their help to fight terrorism, which he described as "an international curse".
"For every one American killed, 300 innocent Iraqis are killed," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8362939C-770A-4A62-95FB-416DA1B4AE7C.htm
Da Silva's remarks came after a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas on the eve of the first South American and Arab summit, which takes place in the Brazilian capital.
In a 40-minute meeting Da Silva, Abbas expressed concern over putting off the planned withdrawal from Gaza Strip and North West Bank for another three weeks.
Abbas also urged Israel to meet its commitments that it took in Sharm Al Sheikh understandings including the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli jails. He also expressed his sorry for Israeli continuation of illegally building settlements.
President Da Silva praised patience and said he greatly appreciated the fact that the Palestinians, considering the difficulties they confront in their lives, have made great efforts for peace.
The Brazilian president mentioned that he had waited 13 years to become Brazil's president and suggested the Palestinians negotiate "with calm," even though they have been in conflict with Israel for 57 years.
The summit brings together leaders from 12 South American and 22 Arab nations, the first time that such an event has been held. It is also a move to promote "South-South" cooperation among developing countries, and is aimed at countering the dominance of the United States in the global political arena.
South American and Arab leaders gathering for a summit are expected to overwhelmingly adopt a declaration condemning Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, according to a draft of the document approved by ministers Monday.
The draft declaration to be signed during the first Summit of South American-Arab Countries demands that Israel dismantle settlements "including those in East Jerusalem" and retreat to its 1967 borders before the Mideast war.
It also asserts the right of people "to resist foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legality and in compliance with international humanitarian law."
The clause is a clear reference to Israeli and American condemnation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"It's not against Israel," insisted Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. "It's certainly against the occupation by Israel."
Israel, on its part, voiced concern over the offer by the Brazilian president in the last weeks to support the Middle East peace process and saw it as a supportive trend towards the Palestinians
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=4519