Summit Challenges

The "ordinary-extraordinary" Arab summit is to go ahead on Saturday in Sharm El-Sheikh in spite of attempts on the part of some Arab governments to postpone it. That Iraq was among these is particularly odd given the express purpose of the summit is to support diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully and spare the people of Iraq the catastrophe of war.

In his press conference following his return from Germany and France, President Mubarak stressed that the purpose of the summit was to ensure that the Arabs had a say in the events around them.

"It is unacceptable," Mubarak said, "that the Arabs should not meet to take a united stance on Iraq after high level meetings of the EU, a Franco-African summit, a summit of the Non- Aligned movement and the call for an Islamic summit on the subject."

The president, moreover, could not have been more emphatic on the need for haste in holding this summit.

Whether we call the summit "ordinary", "urgent" or "emergency" is not an issue. What matters is quick and decisive action to adopt a collective position that will converge with, and lend impetus to, the growing tide of international opinion opposed to war. As Mubarak said in an interview with Egyptian editors-in-chief: "The Arabs must take a united stand on this dangerous and complex problem... in light of the increasing likelihood of US military intervention."

The president was voicing his conviction that although the wheels of war are in motion they have not yet reached the point of no return. One might, therefore, have thought that the Arabs would not hesitate to rise to the challenges that loom perilously close. As Mubarak cautioned: "To let matters take their own course without arriving at a united Arab position on promoting peaceful measures instead of war will ultimately bring military action closer."

Now that the Sharm El-Sheikh summit is, fortunately, to proceed, it must prove itself commensurate to the challenges faced. Above all it must demonstrate that Arab leaders can reach a consensus that will help promote a peaceful resolution and support other international drives towards this end. In this regard, summit participants must be explicit that the crisis has to be handled under the auspices of the UN Security Council, that the international arms inspectors must be given sufficient time to complete their work and that any military action against Iraq without a mandate from the Security Council will threaten the stability of this region and unleash an uncontrollable wave of terrorism.

If the Arabs hope to persuade Washington to defer to the Security Council, if they want to ensure that forces opposed to military action can sustain their drive, then they must tell the regime in Iraq to cooperate fully with the arms inspection teams. The time has long since passed for Iraq to continue with its evasion tactics, only complying with arms inspectors as and when the heat gets turned up. As Mubarak has repeated on numerous occasions, "Iraq must cooperate 100 per cent." In this regard Arab leaders might contemplate forming a delegation to meet with Saddam Hussein in order to prevail upon him the necessity of cooperating immediately and fully with the inspection teams and taking all other steps possible to defuse the crisis.

Not that the delegation will find this task easy. They will be dealing with a leadership that has propelled its nation and the region from one disaster to another. This is a leadership that cannot read the realities staring it in the face and, therefore, cannot act rationally, as has been made abundantly clear in its handling of the current crisis. French President Jacques Chirac has said that the best thing Saddam and his ruling elite could do for their country and people would be to vanish, which would take the wind out of the US drive to war. Egypt's position on this issue is that it is solely an Iraqi domestic concern. In his interview with Der Spiegel Mubarak said that the Iraqi president, alone, must take decisions that serve the welfare of his country and people.

The furor over Iraq has deflected attention from the Arab's focal concern, the Palestinian cause. President Mubarak has cautioned repeatedly against losing sight of this issue, which he describes as much more critical than the Iraqi situation. In his meeting with the cabinet on Monday the president said: "The Palestinian issue is the key to stability in the Middle East. The international community must take a clear stand in order to stop the collapse of the peace process."

Clearly, the forthcoming Arab summit must adopt a resolution that will help halt Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and promote a resumption of negotiations towards the implementation of the Quartet's "roadmap".

The Arab summit takes place at a delicate and crucial juncture. As its participants deliberate what resolutions to adopt they must consider how best to address the parties involved. If they are to persuade decision-makers in Washington that action outside of the framework of international legitimacy will wreak havoc on regional stability they must also be able to persuade it that diplomatic channels and more time for the weapons inspectors will guarantee the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

If we are to assist those powers, notably France and Germany, opposed to war, we must base our position on a clear reading of their attitudes. While they oppose war because they are aware of the dangers inherent in a strike before all diplomatic avenues have been exhausted, they have no sympathy for the Iraqi regime, which they hold culpable for much human tragedy.

Summit members, thus, must declare themselves fully in support of international resolutions, on the one hand, and press home to Baghdad the need for bold and constructive measures. Indeed, one hopes that Baghdad will declare this resolve clearly and unequivocally in the forthcoming summit, thereby lending force and cohesion to the position of the Arabs and all other forces opposed to war.