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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Arab League decision irks Syria |
| 2004-09-14 |
| Arab foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to avoid a position on United Nations intervention in the Syrian-Lebanese relationship after Syria and Jordan disagreed on the right approach. An Arab League resolution, approved but subject to amendment, does not mention a UN Security Council resolution demanding Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon and end interference in the affairs of its neighbour, diplomats said. An Arab diplomat said the UN resolution posed an impossible choice for the ministers, who are in Cairo for a regular twice-yearly meeting of the Arab League council of ministers. They cannot endorse the resolution, because they oppose US and French interference in inter-Arab affairs, but they cannot reject it because their case in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute rests on other UN Security Council resolutions, he said. Support for Lebanon The Arab League resolution says only that the ministers "decided to support Lebanon in its sovereign right to practise its internal political choices ... and to support its free decision to establish and strengthen fraternal relations, coordination and cooperation, especially with Syria." The formula was approved on Monday at the level of ambassadors but disagreement emerged when the ministers met in closed session on Tuesday morning, league sources said. Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan al-Muashir said that Syria should comply with the UN resolution and the Arab League could not challenge decisions taken by the Security Council, the sources said. Gulf states supported the Jordanian position. Submission Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said this position meant submission to American pressure. The United States and France were the driving forces behind the resolution. The sources quoted Shara as saying the resolution was a "flagrant threat to Syria and official intervention in the internal affairs of Lebanon and relations between states. To stay silent about it would be to give America the right to intervene in every matter that concerns the Arabs." The aim of the resolution was to serve Israeli interests and to put pressure on Syria to cooperate with the occupation of Iraq, "and that will never happen", Shara added. Shara said the Arabs were the only regional grouping that complies with UN resolutions while Israel ignored resolutions dating back to the 1960s. No disagreement An Arab League official played down the disagreement and said that no one had proposed amending the agreed text. In Amman on Monday, Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khadir said Jordan stood by fellow Arabs but could not stand against "international legitimacy". She was quoted by the official Egyptian news agency MENA. On Monday the Saudi Press Agency quoted Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad al-Salim al-Sabah as saying the Gulf Cooperation Council "supports the latest Security Council resolution that demands withdrawal of all forces from Lebanon." |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |