The 13th ordinary Arab summit concluded in the Jordanian capital Amman Wednesday with the leaders pledging support for Palestinians but divided on lifting U.N. Sanctions on Iraq
Jordanian King Abdullah Bin Hussein chaired the closing session, which adopted the final statement and Amman declaration. He said the summit will be a "new beginning and a fundamental positive change in joint Arab action."
"With the summit, we have established a permanent procedure and a new, clear approach to joint Arab action. This approach is the convening of the summit on an annual basis," he said.
At the closing session, outgoing Secretary General of the 22- member Arab League Esmat Abdel-Meguid announced that Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has been confirmed as the new chief of the League.
Arab leaders at the two-day summit discussed a wide range of issues, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Arab policy towards Israel, the U.N. sanctions against Iraq and the Iraq-Kuwait relations.
The declaration of 17 resolutions calls for protecting Arab national security on the basis of respecting each state’s sovereignty, seeking Arab reconciliation and holding Arab summit periodically and on schedule.
It also calls for enhancing Arab solidarity and economic integration, safeguarding legitimate Arab rights, and tolerance and co-existence on the basis of mutual respect.
The declaration promises to provide full support for the Palestinians, Syrian and Lebanese people in their struggle to regain their legitimate rights, calls for an end to U.N. sanctions imposed against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and for dealing with the Iraq issue on a humanitarian basis.
On the thorny Iraq-Kuwait file, the resolution did not mention specific chapter, saying only that the Jordanian king will lead the efforts to continue talks with Iraqi and Kuwaiti sides for a solution to the issue.
The Amman summit, attended by 15 heads of state or government and senior delegates from seven other countries, is the first regular Arab summit since it was decided at the Cairo emergency summit last October to become an annual event.
The next ordinary Arab summit will be held in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
(Xinhua 03/28/2001)
