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South American, Arab leaders hold summit
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-11 09:33
Banding together to undercut the international influence of the United
States, South American and Arab leaders opened their first summit Tuesday to
usher in a new wave of political and economic cooperation.
With 9,000 soldiers posted around the Brazilian capital and military
helicopters buzzing overhead, 15 heads of state and top officials from 34 South
American, Middle Eastern and North African nations converged for the first
Summit of South American-Arab Countries.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
(R) and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands before their meeting
at Planalto Palace in Brasilia May 9, 2005.
[Reuters] | "We are facing a historic opportunity
to build the foundation for a bridge of solid cooperation between South America
and the Arab world," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
Pushing a policy goal he has pursued since becoming the first elected leftist
leader of Latin America's largest country, Silva urged the participants to fight
for free-trade rules that help the developing world's masses who live in misery,
instead of benefiting only rich countries and multinational corporations.
But the summit lost some of its luster with the absence of some of the
strongest voices in the Arab world, including the leaders of Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Even Lebanon's president was a no-show.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa had been hoping more leaders would
attend, but said the presence of seven of the 22 Arab heads of state was a
positive "gauge of the importance of the conference." Eight of the 12 South
American leaders were participating.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, left,
kisses Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, center, as Brazilian President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reads during the opening ceremony of the South
American and Arab countries summit in Brasilia, Brazil, on Tuesday, May
10, 2005. [AP] | Moussa denied speculation that the United States had pressured some leaders
to boycott the event, which was to issue a declaration at odds with U.S. policy
on issues ranging from terrorism to Israel.
Brazilian media widely reported that the United States was refused permission
to attend as summit observer, but U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said
Tuesday he did not know whether the United States ever requested to observe the
event.
State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that
Washington had asked if it could be an observer at the meetings and Brazil
refused.
Despite the summit's anti-American undertones, Casey said the Bush
administration welcomes "the idea of dialogue between these two regions" and
believes the "example of democratic development was something that could be
shared and could be of benefit in discussions between the two regions."
Moussa took pains in his speech to downplay controversial elements of the
declaration, saying the summit's main point is to strengthen regional ties.
"This summit, in its idea, its initiative, is not directed against anyone,"
he said.
Silva, however, singled out for criticism agricultural subsidies that the
United States and Europe give their farmers, saying they must be slashed to
ensure that "poor countries receive the benefits of globalization."
"We want to take concrete and lasting steps in the struggle for development
and social justice," Silva said.
Moussa said the two regions, which have a combined population of more than
half a billion people, may lie far apart but share strong cultural links. About
10 million South Americans are of Arab descent.
"More than 600 million people are looking with hope to the summit of hope,
the Brasilia summit," he said.
The summit drew the biggest show of security in the Brazilian capital since
Silva was sworn into office 2 1/2 years ago.
Two Army tanks were parked in front of the convention center, and soldiers
with automatic weapons patrolled in jeeps, trucks and on horseback.
Police confiscated four pistols from security guards protecting Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani because they had not filed the proper paperwork to
carry weapons.
Public servants got the day off, so the city looked like a ghost town.
Silva initiated the idea for the summit in 2003 with a visit to the Middle
East, and the gathering comes at a time when Washington is pressuring Arab
nations to relax their mostly authoritarian systems of government.
The leaders were expected to endorse a "Declaration of Brasilia" on Wednesday
pledging to tighten political and economic links between the regions.
A draft of the declaration demands that Israel disband settlements in
Palestinian territory, including "those in East Jerusalem," and retreat to its
borders before the 1967 Mideast war. It also lashes out at U.S. economic
sanctions against Syria.
But Moussa, in an interview with the AP, denied the declaration was biased
against Israel or the United States, its main ally.
"It's not against Israel," he said. "It's certainly against the occupation by
Israel."
The document denounces terrorism, but asserts the right of people "to resist
foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legality
and in compliance with international humanitarian law."
The clause was a clear reference to Israeli and American condemnation of the
Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah. The Simon Wiesenthal
Center said "it leaves the door open for terrorists groups to interpret it as a
support for their criminal activities."
On the Mideast peace front, the draft supports international efforts,
including the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan. And on Iraq, it stresses the
need to respect the "unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq and of not
interfering in its internal affairs."
In a separate ceremony Tuesday, officials approved an agreement between the
oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council and Mercosur, a key South American economic
bloc, pledging negotiations for a free-trade area linking the two groups.
Mercosur's full-fledged members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The GCC's members are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman,
Bahrain and Qatar.
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