Middle East Aggregator

Talks to end Lebanon's political crisis suffered a setback on Monday after the Hezbollah-led opposition appeared to ignore proposals by Qatari mediators aimed at pulling the country back from the brink of civil war.

The Arab League intervened last week to end Lebanon's worst domestic fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war and pave the way for the Doha talks between the U.S.-backed ruling coalition and the opposition to end an 18-month-old crisis.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani made proposals on Sunday on power-sharing in a new government and the rivals had been expected to hammer out a compromise over a new election law on Monday.

Agreement on these points would pave the way for parliament to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman as president, a post that has been vacant since November.

But a statement issued by opposition leaders after a meeting on Monday was short on detail and restated existing demands, disappointing the ruling camp and casting a pall over talks. (Reuters)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar

Arab League mediators brokered a deal on Thursday to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the civil war, political sources said, after the U.S.-supported government backed down in its conflict with Hezbollah.

The sources said the head of an Arab League delegation, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, would announce the deal at a news conference in Beirut shortly.

Sheikh Hamad will invite the government and Hezbollah-led opposition to Qatar for talks to resolve a broader political conflict which has paralyzed Lebanon for 18 months, the sources said.

The deal, brokered after two days of talks, includes the lifting of a Hezbollah-led blockade on Beirut's sea and air ports, the end of an armed presence in the streets and a pledge not to use weapons to settle political differences, they said.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it expected the first commercial flight for a week to arrive at Beirut airport on Thursday night. (Reuters)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Hezbollah, Lebanon

An Arab League delegation is mediating between opposing factions in Lebanon which have brought the country close to civil war.

Delegation members opened talks in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Wednesday to try to defuse tensions between Lebanon's US-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

"The Arab League mission opens a window for a solution," a senior Lebanese political source said.

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to the opposition, called the mission the "last chance for compromise or chaos".

Hezbollah and its allies last week routed government supporters and briefly seized control of large parts of Beirut, before handing them over to the army.

The Lebanese army continued to patrol throughout the country on Wednesday with orders to use force to restore security if necessary, security officials said.

Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, reported earlier that opposition bulldozers had partially opened the road to the airport to allow the delegation through. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Hezbollah, Lebanon

Lebanon was on a knife-edge on Monday after days of deadly sectarian battles that have driven the nation to the brink of civil war, as Arab ministers prepared to send in a team to try to end the crisis.

While Beirut was calm, Lebanese troops moved into the Druze mountains southeast of the capital after supporters of the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition engaged in heavy fighting on Sunday.

Many people have fled the region, where homes were hit by rockets, shop windows broken and cars set ablaze in the weekend firefights.

"Even the Israelis didn't do this to us," said one elderly Druze woman in the town of Shwayfat. "They (Hezbollah) came into our homes, terrified our children and broke everything."

In Beirut, there was an uneasy calm although schools and some businesses remained shut following five days of unrest that has left 47 people dead and scores wounded in the worst sectarian violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. (AFP)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Hezbollah, Lebanon

Jordan's King Abdullah told visiting MK Yossi Beilin on Saturday that progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians prior to the two sides reaching an agreement on the core issues of the conflict would be sufficient for the Arab League states to implement, at least partially, the 2002 Arab peace initiative, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.
The monarch added his belief that a significant number of Arab and Muslim states would move to establish diplomatic relations with Israel as a result of positive movement on the Palestinian front.
Beilin told Abdullah that the gaps between the two sides are smaller than what is perceived by the public, yet the question remains whether Israel and the Palestinians can muster the courage to make the necessary compromises and bridge those gaps, according to Israel Radio.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this weekend makes her fourth visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the November Annapolis peace conference with little to show for the U.S. effort.
Traveling ahead of President George W. Bush's May 13-18 trip to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Rice left Washington on Thursday and will see officials on both sides - including in three-way sessions - to assess a peace negotiation with no visible sign of progress. (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Jordan, U.S.

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, has said there is a chance to break Lebanon's political deadlock which has left the country without a president for more than five months.
Moussa made the comments after meeting feuding Lebanese factions on Thursday in his latest attempt to break the impasse.

"Time is passing but I think there is a chance which we can exploit to make serious progress," he told reporters after a two-hour meeting in Beirut, the capital, with Nabih Berri, the parliamentary speaker, who is aligned with the Syrian-backed opposition.

Moussa's visit came two weeks after a similar trip by David Welch, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.

Moussa described his talks with Berri as extremely important.

He said: "We have begun work which I think can serve as a basis for progress."

But Moussa's several visits to Lebanon in the past have yielded little results. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has implied Arab states could do more to help the Palestinians.

Without singling out specific Arab states for criticism, Ms Rice said they should focus on how much they can do - not how little - for the Palestinians.

She was speaking on her arrival in London for a series of meetings on the stalled Middle East peace process.

Ms Rice will also hold talks on Iran with foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.

"It's extremely important that people pay their pledges," she said.

"States that have resources ought to be looking not for how little they can do, but how much they can do," she added.

US officials travelling with Ms Rice said only three Arab League members had made major donations this year - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Algeria.

US figures show that foreign donors have pledged $1.55bn - including $717m from Arab League members - in financial support to the Palestinian Authority this year. (BBC)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Palestine, U.S.

An Arab summit failed on Sunday to clinch a breakthrough on Lebanon, spotlighting the rift between hosting Syria and stay-away US allies which blame Beirut's political crisis on Damascus. Meanwhile, all eyes are focused on whether Arab League chief Amr Moussa would return to Lebanon to pursue the implementation of a three-point Arab initiative to end Lebanon's ongoing political crisis. 

A Damascus Declaration - which Moussa read out at the end of the two-day summit - called on Lebanon to elect a consensus president.

"Arab leaders stress their commitment to the Arab initiative to solve the Lebanese crisis, and call on Lebanese leaders to elect consensus candidate [commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces] General Michel Suleiman at the time agreed," the declaration said.

The declaration also said that Lebanese-Syrian relation should be put on the right track. (Daily Star)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon

Arab leaders meeting in Damascus have said that they will review a peace offer extended to Israel in 2002 unless it changes its behaviour.
The warning was made on Sunday at the end a two-day Arab summit marred by divisions over the political crisis in Lebanon.

"For the Arab side to continue to offer the Arab peace initiative is tied to Israel executing its commitments in the framework of international resolutions to achieve peace in the region," a Damascus Declaration said.

The Arab initiative of 2002 offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab countries in return for withdrawal from all territory captured in the 1967 war.

Although no time frame was set in the declaration, Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, told a news conference that a review could begin in the middle of the year.
The language on the Arab peace plan was not a surprise as it was almost identical to that of a decision approved by Arab foreign ministers at a meeting in Cairo three weeks ago.
The declaration also expressed support for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, saying his leadership should be respected 
It also said the situation in Gaza should "return to the status" before Hamas seized full control of the territory by forcing out security forces loyal to Abbas in June. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Iraq, Israel, Palestine

An annual summit of the Arab League is continuing in Syria's capital Damascus but key leaders are staying away amid signs of a growing regional rift.

Only 11 heads of states from the 22-member organisation were present at the summit's opening on Saturday.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were among those sending low-level delegations to the two-day gathering.

They blame Syria for the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon - a charge denied by the government in Damascus.

The Lebanese government is boycotting the summit completely.

Opening the meeting, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied his country was meddling in Lebanon.

He was responding to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who had accused Syria of preventing the election of a consensus president in Beirut.

Mr Assad said his country was willing to join "Arab or non-Arab efforts" to end Lebanon's political crisis "on condition that they are based on Lebanese national consensus".

He was careful not to criticise those Arab leaders who refused to come to the summit, the BBC's Heba Saleh reports from Damascus. (BBC)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon, Syria

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan president, poured contempt on fellow Arab leaders at a summit that was overshadowed by the absence of several key figures.
At the annual Arab summit, which opened on Saturday, he criticised Arab countries for doing nothing while the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and overthrew Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president.

Gaddafi also repeated his frequently made proposal that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be settled by creating one democratic state where the two peoples live together, to be called Isratine. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Libya

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Arab leaders assembled at a Damascus summit Saturday to send peacekeeping troops to the Palestinian territories, as Arab leaders debated the future of a 2002 peace initiative.
Abbas spoke at the opening of a deeply divided annual Arab League summit that leaders of the U.S.'s top allies boycotted to protest Syria's hard-line stances in nearly every crisis in the Middle East.
Abbas has called in the past for international peacekeepers in the Gaza Strip. But his call Saturday at an Arab summit in Damascus is the first time he has urged Arab countries to send forces.

He asked Arab countries to "think seriously of Arab and international
protection for our people."
Abbas took a sharply pessimistic tone over Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations launched in November. "The coming couple of months are decisive. If we don't reach a solution by the end of this year, it means the whole region will be on the verge of a new era of tension and loss of confidence in peace," Abbas said. (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Palestine

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday promised at an Arab summit in Damascus to help resolve a political crisis in Lebanon, which boycotted the meeting in protest at Syrian policy.

Eleven heads of state from the Arab League's 22 members were present at the opening, less than normal for the two-day annual event, reflecting suspicions that Syria has obstructed the election of a new Lebanese president through its allies.

Along with Lebanon, three key U.S. allies -- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan -- stayed away from the summit, reducing the chances it will break new ground on Lebanon or other conflicts.

The conflict over Lebanon reflects the wider struggle for regional influence between the United States and Syria's ally Iran.

Assad dismissed the accusation that his country was behind the deadlock in Lebanon, which has not had a president since November because the government and the Syrian-backed opposition cannot agree on the composition of a new cabinet. (Reuters)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon, Syria

On the eve of the Arab Lague summit in Damascus, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Friday that his government was staying away from the gathering to demonstrate the Lebanese people's refusal to accept a presidential vacuum. In a televised speech, Siniora addressed the Arab community, stressing that "Lebanon should only be represented by its Christian president, who reflects the country's diversity and is the only Christian Arab president," Siniora said.

Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term. Parliament sessions to elect a new head of state have been postponed on 17 occasions as part of the power struggle between the government and the opposition, which Siniora and his allies accuse of obstructing the process on behalf of Syria. 

The prime minister described as "disappointing" the fact that Lebanon has been without a president for four months. (Daily Star)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon

Arab leaders have begun gathering in Damascus for a summit already undermined by a series of high-profile snubs.
Yemen and Jordan on Friday announced they would be sending low-level representatives to an annual Arab League meeting normally attended by heads of state.

A Jordanian official said that the kingdom's delegate to the Arab League, Omar Rifai, would head the Jordan delegation at Saturday's summit.
While the Yemeni news agency Saba said that Abd Rabbo Mansour, the country's vice-president, would represent Yemen.

Saudia Arabia and Egypt had earlier announced they would be represented by low-level delegations in protest against what they called Syrian "meddling" in Lebanon.
Lebanon's government said it would boycott the event amid the continuing deadlock with the Syrian-backed opposition over the make-up of the cabinet and the election of a new president.
Morocco and Oman were also sending low-level delegates.
Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, also said on Friday that he would not be able to attend the summit due to a struggle with Shia militias at home. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge

Hamas wants this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus to back a Yemen-sponsored reconciliation agreement between the group and its Palestinian rival Fatah, a pro-Hamas Web site quoted the group's leader as saying on Friday.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in exile in Syria, was also quoted as urging Arab leaders to support its fight with Israel, although he reiterated the Islamist group was open to a conditional truce.
The Gaza-based Web site said Meshal wrote to Arab leaders requesting support for Hamas-Fatah dialogue, after a Yemen-brokered agreement to revive talks between the rival factions appeared to falter this week.

Meshal called on Arab leaders to "shoulder your national and brotherly responsibility to foster a Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue", according to the report, which was also carried by London-based pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.
Hamas seized control of Gaza last June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah forces. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led unity government and pursued U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel. (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, Yemen

Israel must show a commitment to the peace process if Syria is to re-evaluate its support of the 2002 Saudi peace initiative, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Thursday.
The minister's comments were made two days before Arab leaders were to meet in Damascus for a regional summit scheduled for Saturday.
According to Moallem, Israeli reluctance to take diplomatic steps towards peace was behind the decision made by Arab League members in Cairo last month that the continuation of the Saudi Peace initiative will hinge upon Israeli cooperation.

The summit has been riven by deep divisions between Arab leaders, mainly over alleged Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs. Lebanon has announced it is boycotting the summit, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced they were sending only low-level officials to the gathering in a snub to Syria. (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Syria

Syria on Wednesday accused the United States of trying to torpedo this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus, as more Arab states signaled that they would not be sending heads of state to attend the gathering.  Egypt announced Wednesday that it would send only a junior minister to the gathering in a snub to Syria. Local television stations also reported that Jordan is likely to send a low-level delegation.

The summit in Damascus has been marred by divisions between Syria and US-allied Arab countries, which have been at odds over a host of issues for the past three years. Lebanon has announced it is boycotting the summit, and Saudi Arabia is also sending a low-level official rather than King Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are particularly angry at Syria over the political crisis in Lebanon, where they accuse Damascus of blocking the election of a new president through its Hizbullah allies. The United States and its Arab allies back Lebanon's anti-Syrian government led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.(Daily Star)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Syria, U.S.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa announced Wednesday that Thursday's Arab summit in Damascus will adopt a Yemeni initiative aimed at ending disputes among the Palestinians.
Moussa arrived in Damascus on Wednesday to join a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers to be held in the Syrian capital on Thursday. He is to attend the two-day convention of the summit on Saturday.
"The Arab summit will adopt all the crucial and sensitive Arab issues, mainly issues related to the situation in Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan and the Palestinian territories," Moussa told a news conference.

Moussa confirmed that the Arab Summit, "which welcomed the Yemeni initiative of reconciliation, will adopt the initiative and will include a clause about it in the final statement of the summit." (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Fatah, Hamas, Syria

Egypt is to send only a low-level delegation to the upcoming Arab League summit in Damascus.

Mufid Shehab, minister for legal affairs and legislative councils, is to lead the delegation Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt's foreign minister, told the official MENA news agency on Wednesday.

Shehab will attend the Damascus summit, due to begin on Saturday, in place of Egypt's president.

The snub reflects tensions with Syria over the political crisis in Lebanon, the continuation of which Egypt and other powers blame on Syria. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Egypt, Syria

Lebanon will not send a delegation to this month's Arab summit in neighbouring Syria amid the continuing political deadlock in Beirut, according to Ghazi Aridi, Lebanon's information minister.
Many members of Lebanon's ruling coalition blame Damascus for working with the Hezbollah-led opposition to block the election of a new president.

"The Council of Ministers has decided against Lebanon's participation in the Arab summit scheduled for March 29 in Damascus," Aridi said after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

"By not taking part in the summit, Lebanon wanted to reaffirm that it should be represented by its head of state at such a meeting and that the Lebanese were unwilling to accept the status quo." (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon

"The strength of the Arabs is in their solidarity" is the slogan of the Arab League Summit in Damascus, but it seems the Arab world has not been this fragmented for a very long time. The leaders of at least 12 Arab countries will not attend the summit that opens, according to remarks by Arab sources to Haaretz on Monday. They also said no significant decisions will be made at the summit.
Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it would be represented at the summit by its permanent representative to the Arab League, who holds the rank of ambassador. Egypt said President Hosni Mubarak would not attend, and it seems that his place will be taken by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Jordan's King Abdullah will most likely also not attend, and it is still not clear who will represent Lebanon.
However, Kuwait announced Monday that Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah will attend. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, is expected to participate in the Damascus summit. The Syrians claim 14 Arab leaders have already confirmed their attendance.

According to Arab sources, the reason for the expected lack of accomplishments at the summit is disagreement among various Arab nations. (Haaretz)

Labels: Arab Leauge

Saudi Arabia has said that neither King Abdullah nor Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, will attend this week's Arab summit in Damascus amid a long-running row over Lebanon.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia accuse Syria, which wielded political and military power over its neighbour for decades, of blocking attempts to elect a president.

The summit is normally attended by the heads of state of the participating Arab countries.
However, Ahmad Qattan, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the Arab League, said on Monday that he would lead his country's delegation at the conference.

The decision to send the relatively low-ranking diplomat reflects the strained ties between Riyadh and Damascus. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Saudi Arabia, Syria

Syria on Thursday invited Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to an Arab summit in Damascus this month but he is not expected to attend because he blames Syria for Lebanon's political crisis.
Beirut's governing coalition say Syria and its allies in Lebanon have blocked the election of a new president and poisoned ties between Damascus and Arab states that support Siniora.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan -- which all support the Siniora cabinet -- are not expected to attend the March 29-30 summit unless Lebanon has a president by then.

Syrian foreign ministry official Ahmad Qawouk Arnous delivered the invitation to Fawzi Salloukh, the pro-Damascus foreign minister who resigned in November, 2006, at the start of a campaign by Syria-backed factions against the Siniora cabinet.
Salloukh, whose resignation was never accepted, said the invitation would be passed to Siniora upon his return from Dakar, where he is attending a summit of Islamic states. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon, Syria

The chief Palestinian negotiator says Israel is sabotaging Middle East negotiations with new plans to build hundreds of homes in the West Bank and occupied east Jerusalem.

"The pursuit of settlements is a slap to the peace process and to efforts to make it credible," Ahmed Qureia said on Tuesday.

Israel this week unveiled new housing plans in occupied east Jerusalem and in the West Bank settlement of Givat Zeev, moves that drew a chorus of international criticism and warnings they could hamper peace talks.
It also came as Egyptian mediation efforts led to a tentative ceasefire in Gaza. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Egypt, European Union, Israel, Palestine, U.S.

Arab foreign ministers kicked off a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday with Arab League chief Amr Moussa calling for unity to end the Lebanese political crisis. "Solidarity, in the form of national reconciliation, is our only way out of the current crisis and future crises," Moussa said in his opening speech.

Ministers from the 22-member league met in Cairo to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and to prepare for this month's summit in Damascus, which could see some leaders not attend if the Lebanese crisis is not resolved.

Lebanon has been without a president since November amid feuding between the Saudi- and Western-backed ruling parliamentary majority and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine

Arab countries will walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if Israel ever officially acknowledges it has nuclear weapons, the Arab League announced in a statement Wednesday.
As Arab foreign ministers met at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League to prepare for their annual summit at the end of the month, they also issued a series of statements on regional issues, including extremely sensitive matter of Israel's refusal to join the NPT.
As soon as Israel announces it has nuclear weapons, the Arabs will announce their withdrawal from the Nonproliferation Treaty, the statement said.

Israel is widely believed to be the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons, though it maintains a policy of ambiguity, insisting it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the region, without confirming or denying their existence. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel

Arab foreign ministers threatened on Wednesday to reconsider a longstanding Arab offer of peace with Israel and condemned recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip as "crimes against humanity".

They said in a statement: "For the Arab side to continue to offer the Arab peace initiative, it will be linked with Israel's implementation of its basic international commitments."

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told a news conference the foreign ministers would make recommendations on peace strategy to an Arab summit in Damascus later this month.

"The matter must be restudied. What is the benefit? What is the strategy which must be adopted in the light of the complete rejection of the hand stretched out?" he added. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Pakistan

Syria has invited Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to an Arab League summit in Damascus, scheduled for later this month.

During a meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo on Wednesday, Walid al-Muallem of Syria said they would wait until Lebanon elects a new president before inviting Beirut and Riyadh to the summit.

However, the Syrian government has given Lebanon before March 29, the date for the summit, to elect a president.

If elections are not held, al-Muallem said "Lebanon will choose who will represent it".

Moderate Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are reportedly threatening to boycott the meeting if no president is elected in Lebanon by then. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon, Syria

Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states will stay away from an Arab League summit in Damascus later this month unless Lebanon is invited, whether it has a new president or not, a Gulf official said on Monday. "Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states are waiting for Syria to invite Lebanon to the summit in order to decide their attendance. If Lebanon is not invited, [these] Gulf states will not show up," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Lebanon, which has been without a president since late November, is in the throes of a political crisis that has strained relations between Syria and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, casting a shadow over the annual summit Damascus is due to host from March 29 to 30.

Syria and its ally Iran back the Lebanese opposition, led by Hizbullah. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria

Lebanon's political crisis is becoming more complicated and foreign influence over the struggle between the Beirut governing coalition and Hezbollah-led opposition is unprecedented, a mediator has said.

In comments published on Wednesday, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa called for renewed Arab and regional efforts to end the standoff between the rival sides, whose power struggle is Lebanon's worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanon has been without a president for three months and the two sides are at odds over how to share seats in a new cabinet. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Lebanon

Worsening conditions for people in the Palestinian territories and southern Israel risk fatally undermining Middle East peace talks relaunched late last year, two senior U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

The talks meant little to Palestinians living under Israeli blockade in Gaza or Israelis under rocket fire from Palestinian militants, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes and Middle East envoy Robert Serry told the Security Council.

Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel were launched at a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November. But the sides remain divided on what any agreement should entail. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Palestine

Arab officials are warning they could withdraw their landmark offer of peace and full ties with Israel in exchange for a return of Arab lands, unless Israel explicitly accepts the initiative.
The warnings reflect increasing Arab impatience with the long-stalled peace process with Israel. Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have bogged down since they were relaunched at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference last November after a seven-year hiatus.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal - whose country sponsored the Arab peace initiative, adopted by Arab nations in 2002 - warned Thursday that despair would force us to review these options, including withdrawing the proposal.

He accused Israel of sabotaging the initiative, which is now facing grave danger. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Palestine

Arab leaders will threaten to rescind their offer of full relations with Israel in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands unless Israel gives a positive response to their initiative, indicating the Arab states’ growing disillusionment with the prospects of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At an Arab League meeting next month in Syria, the leaders are planning to reiterate support for their initiative, first issued in 2002. The initiative promised Israel normalization with the league’s 22 members in return for the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as the capital, and a resolution of the issue of Palestinian refugees. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Palestine

Egypt said on Monday that a charter adopted last week imposing regulations on Arab satellite broadcasters which was condemned by media watchdogs is not meant to restrict freedom. The charter "is not aimed at restricting freedom of the media but rather to organize it at a time when satellite channels are spreading ignorant [messages] and illegitimate religious edicts," Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi said in an interview carried by the official MENA news agency. Information ministers of the 22-member Arab League voted in favor of the guidelines on Tuesday, with Qatar the only dissenting vote.

The document, which is not legally binding, was principally backed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia and calls for the channels "not to offend the leaders or national and religious symbols" of Arab countries. "We support freedom of expression and freedom of the media, and we will continue to defend it," Fiqi said. The Cairo document authorizes signatory countries to "withdraw, freeze or not renew the work permits of media which break the regulations." It stipulates that satellite channels "should not damage social harmony, national unity, public order or traditional values."

Programming should also "conform with the religious and ethical values of Arab society and take account of its family structure." The document was strongly criticized by media watchdogs. "This is an unacceptable move on the part of autocratic governments to rob viewers of the already small amount of broadcast freedom they have enjoyed on private television," executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists Joel Simon said in a statement. (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Egypt, Free Media

A new Arab "charter" to coordinate media control is an attempt by autocratic governments to squash already limited freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Saturday.
Arab governments, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, last week adopted a satellite broadcasting charter, which will entrench state control over broadcasts and curtail political expression on the airwaves across the region of some 300 million people.
The charter, signed by information ministers in Cairo, bans broadcasting material seen as undermining "social peace, national unity, public order and general propriety," criticizing religions or defaming political, national and religious leaders.

If a broadcaster violates the charter, the host government can suspend or revoke its broadcasting license. There has been a proliferation of private satellite channels in recent years, with the total number of outlets estimated at around 300. "This is an unacceptable move on the part of autocratic governments to rob viewers of the already small amount of broadcast freedom they have enjoyed on private television," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement.
"Arab governments should immediately disavow this shameful document and hold their countries to international standards for freedom of expression," the New-York based group said.  (Link)

Labels: Arab Leauge, Free Media

ARTICLE 19 condemns the adoption of the 'Principles for Organising Satellite TV in the Arab World' charter agreed yesterday by the Arab Ministers of Information in Egypt.

"These principles constitute a major set back to freedom of the press and freedom of expression in the Arab world. They attempt to muzzle what has become the main source of independent news and information for millions of people in the region. Once again, intolerance and control prevail over freedom and the free and diverse flow of information," said Dr. Agnes Callamard, ARTICLE 19's Executive Director.

The meeting was convened in Cairo on Tuesday 12 February 2008 at the request of Egypt and with the support of Saudi Arabia. The final non-binding document, adopted by all member states of the Arab League with the exception of Qatar and Lebanon, requires Satellite TV broadcasting in the region:

a. not to offend the leaders or national and religious symbols in the Arab world,

b. not to damage social harmony, national unity, public order or traditional values,

c. to conform with the religious and ethical values of Arab society and take account of its family structure,

d. to refrain from broadcasting anything which calls into question God, the monotheistic religions, the prophets, sects or symbols of the various religious communities, and

e. to protect Arab identity from the harmful effects of globalization.

The document threatens to "withdraw, freeze or not renew the work permits of media which will
break the regulations". It calls on member states to introduce all necessary measures in their
national legislations in order to ensure that the document’s principles are fully implemented.
The provisions, if implemented, will inevitably mute and hinder the only avenue for free
expression in the region: satellite TV. They stand in direct contradiction with Article 32 of the
Arab Charter on Human Rights which guarantees the right to information and freedom of
expression and which was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the League of Arab States in
2004. The provisions also violate article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights ratified by many governments in the region.

(Link)
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This is a major setback to any semblance of a free media in the region. We will be monitoring news on this closely.

Labels: Arab Leauge, Egypt, Free Media, Saudi Arabia