Despite the threat of U.S. sanctions, hard-line Syria led calls Friday for next week's annual Arab summit to take a tough stand against Israel in the wake of the killing of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Damascus' insistence that Israel be punished for assassinating the Palestinian leader in a rocket attack March 22 in Gaza could become the focus of the two-day summit that starts here Monday, instead of an American-backed blueprint for Middle East political reform and attempts to revive a stalled Arab peace plan.
| Wonder if Sharon should order another rocket attack? |
The Tunis talks had expected to breathe life into the Saudi plan for regional peace that was unveiled at the 2002 Arab summit in Lebanon. But Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the oil-rich state's de facto ruler, has said he will not attend the summit, a move that has effectively removed the Saudi plan from the agenda. "He will feel deeply embarrassed if he comes to defend (his) cat's paw peace plan while Israeli Prime Minister (Ariel Sharon) continues to play havoc with his (Abdullah's) dwarf, idiot brain child," one diplomat said of the Saudi peace initiative. Saudi Arabia will instead be represented by Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. Israel's fierce foe, Syria, which has been threatened with sanctions by the Bush administration, wants the summit to condemn Israel, particularly over its killing of Yassin, and focus on the Jewish state's worsening conflict with the Palestinians. "This is the main issue, it is only natural that it takes priority," Yousef al-Ahmed, Syria's envoy to the Arab League, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the Tunis meeting.
| "If we can keep talking about this maybe the U.S. won't smack us!" |
But Arab diplomats said key countries, including U.S. allies Egypt and Jordan, oppose Syria's plans. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa accused Sharon's government of torpedoing Mideast peace initiatives by killing Yassin. "What we need is a partner (for peace) and what is sure is that this Israeli government is not a partner," Moussa told reporters. "Its behavior does not serve the cause of peace."
| It'll get peace for Israel, which really irritates you guys, eh? |
But he said the summit would still discuss regional and Arab League reform and modernization. "The Arab world and the Arab people have long being waiting for this process (of modernization) to begin," he said.
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