Arab leaders concluded their two-day summit here yesterday. They decided to relaunch the 2002 Arab peace plan, originally proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah, and to create a pan-Arab Parliament. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa read the Algiers Declaration in which the delegates underscored the need to reactivate the Arab initiative and urged the international community to support the peace plan. Moussa also announced the creation of an Arab Parliament with four members from each of the 22 Arab League states and said the next summit would be held in Khartoum next year. The Parliament will be based in the Syrian capital, Damascus.Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi created a stir at the summit's concluding session when he described both Israelis and the Palestinians as "idiots," much to the amusement of most delegates. Qaddafi, however, criticized the world community for its double standard in implementing UN Security Council resolutions. He cautioned against the danger posed by the use of force and of making Resolution 1559 into a pretext to attack Syria. "Why do they insist on implementing Resolution 1559 while ignoring all the resolutions related to the Arab-Israeli conflict?" the Saudi Press Agency quoted Qaddafi as saying.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the summit that Syria's military pullout should be completed by May. He also said that a new probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would likely be needed. Addressing Arab leaders, including Syrian President Bashar Assad, the UN secretary-general called for free and fair parliamentary elections in Lebanon in May. "Within the next few days, I expect to release the report of the mission of inquiry I established in the wake of the killing. A more comprehensive investigation may be necessary," Annan said.