Links ~ Iraq and the Arab League - Iraq chairs 2011 Arab League Meetings - ..(Arab League Postpones Summit until May 15, 2011 ...) April 20, 2011
Arab League Again Delays Baghdad Summit Meeting
BAGHDAD — The Arab League delayed its annual summit meeting yet again on Wednesday, a decision that was not unexpected given the turmoil sweeping the region but was nonetheless certain to disappoint the Iraqi government.
The meeting, originally scheduled for March, had initially been delayed until mid-May. Arab foreign ministers will meet May 15 to consider a new date, Iraq’s representative to the league, Qais al-Azzawi, said on state television.
Iraq’s leaders had lately been promoting the meeting as an opportunity to showcase the country’s fragile democracy in a region rife with calls for more representative and accountable governments. But there was widespread skepticism in the diplomatic community that Arab leaders would choose to leave their countries for fear that they would be ousted in absentia.
Still, the Iraqi leadership could take some comfort in the reason for the delay; before the uprisings in the Arab world, many had predicted the country’s shaky security situation would interrupt the plans. Although security has improved significantly here over the last number of years, Iraq is still racked by violence, as two suicide car bombers demonstrated on Monday at a checkpoint near the Green Zone, the city’s fortified neighborhood for government buildings and embassies.
“Iraq was and still is ready to hold the Arab Summit,” said Ali al-Moussawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, in an interview. “We do not insist that the summit should be held on a specific date, but it is important to hold a successful summit involving a sufficient number of Arab leaders to make important decisions.
“The reason behind the postponement is that many of the Arab countries are unstable, and others have no leaders, like Egypt and Tunisia,” he continued. “Postponing the summit has nothing to do with Iraq.”
According to Agence France-Presse, Ahmed Ben Hilli, the deputy secretary general of the Arab League, said, “The public mood in the region is transitional, nervous and rebellious, which leads us to ask whether it is wise to hold a summit in this period.”
For Iraq, the summit meeting is anticipated as a symbolic moment to signify its ascension from regional pariah to a position of leadership. Iraq is the de facto head of the Arab League, a position it assumed after Libya was suspended from the group.
Last week Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s foreign minister, proudly unveiled to reporters a shiny and refurbished palace in the Green Zone that was once Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace, and later the center of the American occupation after the 2003 invasion. It was recently renovated to be the hub for the summit meeting.
Mr. Zebari, who insisted last week that Iraq was ready and that the summit meeting would proceed on schedule, then took journalists on a tour of Baghdad hotels that had also received face-lifts. And some of the city’s most important streets have been spruced up with greenery and paint jobs as part of a nearly $200 million citywide beautification project in advance of the meeting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/middleeast/21iraq.html?_r=1
BAGHDAD: The Arab League on Wednesday postponed the group's summit scheduled for next month in Baghdad.
The announcement by Ahmed bin Heli, the 22-member group's deputy chief, follows a request by Gulf states to cancel the May 10-11 event because of political unrest across the region.
Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi said Baghdad had hoped the summit would be held on time but that the majority of League members wanted it postponed over tensions in the region. He said another meeting will be held May 15 to decide on a new date.
The summit was to discuss the unrest in the region and choose a new secretary-general to succeed Amr Moussa, whose term ends on May 15.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said he is prepared to postpone but not cancel the summit.
Another League official said the summit will probably be held in September. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The summit, first scheduled for March, was initially delayed amid security concerns in Iraq and because it was unclear which Arab leaders could come while the region was in turmoil. Though disappointed, many Iraqis took that delay in stride.
The Arab League summit was considered by many Iraqi officials as an opportunity to show off the strides the country has made since the height of the US-led war, and they have spent millions of dollars refurbishing buildings and hotels in anticipation of the meeting.
The announcement by Ahmed bin Heli, the 22-member group's deputy chief, follows a request by Gulf states to cancel the May 10-11 event because of political unrest across the region.
Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi said Baghdad had hoped the summit would be held on time but that the majority of League members wanted it postponed over tensions in the region. He said another meeting will be held May 15 to decide on a new date.
The summit was to discuss the unrest in the region and choose a new secretary-general to succeed Amr Moussa, whose term ends on May 15.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said he is prepared to postpone but not cancel the summit.
Another League official said the summit will probably be held in September. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The summit, first scheduled for March, was initially delayed amid security concerns in Iraq and because it was unclear which Arab leaders could come while the region was in turmoil. Though disappointed, many Iraqis took that delay in stride.
The Arab League summit was considered by many Iraqi officials as an opportunity to show off the strides the country has made since the height of the US-led war, and they have spent millions of dollars refurbishing buildings and hotels in anticipation of the meeting.
