Friday, April 15th 2011 Arab foreign ministers to meet over Baghdad summit
Cairo, Amro Mousaa General Secretary for Arab League said member states in Arab League only unanimously can cancel Arab summit in Baghdad. In a joint press conference with Hoshyar Zebari the Iraqi Foreign Minister in Cairo Thursday, Moussa said that Zebari has proposed for a meeting of his counterparts from the member states in the Arab league to discuss possibility of holding Baghdad summit on time.
However, the date for such a high meeting is yet to be set. At the beginning some member states had doubts over attending the assembly in Iraq due to the unrest in the country.
Besides, there were a range of upheavals in the Arab world as a result of the public demonstrations which in some places have changed existing authorities. Thus, the summit was postponed from March 23 to May 12, 2011.
However, recent reports suggest the summit is threatened with another postponement, relocation, or even annulment. The last option seems the strongest.
Zhala Naftchi, an Iraqi lawmaker, contributed all these possibilities to the stance of the government towards the recent protests in Bahrain.
Nouri al-Maliki the Iraqi Prime Minister warned on March 26 against sectarian conflict in the region after the predominately Sunni Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) expedited troops to Bahrain to aid the Bahrain government embattled by Shia protesters.
Maliki also demanded preventing any intervention in the internal affairs of the small Arab gulf country. Following the PM’s statements, thousands took to streets in Iraq’s Najaf, Karbala and Diwaniya (populated with mainly Shia residents) to protest against entry of Saudi Arabia and UAE into Bahrain.
Some other notable Iraqi politicians also made similar remarks which further deteriorated the tensions.
The lawmaker also said that UAE who earlier expressed its content over the summit in Iraq has now proposed to cancel the event.
“There are disagreements and controversial statements between Iraq and the gulf countries, therefore, it is necessary to know if the summit should be held on time or adjourned,” Moussa added.
He stressed no member state or the League alone cannot cancel the summit but unanimously.
Zebari also said all the provisions are set for the meeting to be held on time. The Iraqi foreign minister also warned that annulling Baghdad summit means “terminating the organizational cooperation of Arabs and Arab League,” and hence urged the countries to comply with the summit in his country. Baghdad hosting the Arab summit is the biggest event in the country for nearly two decades, as about 50 thousand U.S. troops kept in the country for support missions are preparing to the final withdrawal this year.
