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| Middle East |
| Arab world’s 'Big Three' reject violence |
| 2002-05-13 |
| Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz left Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday after a mini-summit in which he joined Egypt’s and Syria’s leaders in rejecting "all forms of violence" in a bid to revive hopes of peace in the region. Ummm... This usually means rejection of all forms of Israeli violence... Abdullah joined presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Bashar Assad of Syria at the Red Sea resort on Saturday for a three-hour summit which discussed how to defuse the Middle East crisis. The three Arab political heavyweights said they were committed to seeking peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab land, a sentiment welcomed by the Israeli government as a positive sign. Except by Likud. Something about "the voice of experience." I dunno what they might mean by that... Saturday’s meeting marked the first time the three leaders had met since an Arab summit endorsed the Saudi-sponsored land-for-peace plan in March, as well as the first head-to-head meeting between Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and the other Arab leaders since he discussed ways to revive the peace process with US President George W. Bush last month. A final statement issued after the mini-summit called for the Beirut initiative to be followed by Arabs as a way toward peace; it also denounced Israeli military attacks on Palestinians and urged international pressure to to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. "Look, as long as we sound reasonable, the Euros are gonna be on our side." The three leaders "reiterated the Arab desire for peace and their rejection of violence in all its forms, while saluting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and praising their courageous uprising," said the statement read by Egyptian Information Minister Safwat al-Sherif. "We don't believe in violence, but we think it's really neat that they blow up like that." Syria came on board despite its strong support for the Palestinian resistance and defense of suicide attacks against Israelis, but Arab diplomats said the about-face was not a surprise. "Syria wants to humor the United States and has always avoided a confrontation with Washington," said an Arab diplomat who asked not to be identified. Syria "is also among the Arab countries which has cooperated fully with the Americans in the 'war against terrorism' since 
Sept. 11." Yup. Been at the forefront, they have. Why once... uh... never mind. As long as we're "humored," what the hell? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |