End of Arab summit

Arab leaders support Beshir and Kadhafi holds talks with Saudis

Article published on the 2009-03-31 Latest update 2009-03-31 11:20 TU

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at the final session of the Arab summit in Doha on 30 March 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

Leaders from Arab states finished their annual summit on Monday in Doha and they were clear in rejecting the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak stayed away from the summit, while Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi held talks with the Saudi King Abdullah, after attacking him during a speech to leaders.

Arab leaders were clear in their rejection of the ICC’s indictment of Beshir, but did not accept a proposal by the Sudanese leader to hold an emergency meeting in Khartoum.

“We stress solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the ICC decision against President Omar al-Beshir,” said Amr Mussa, the Arab League chief, in a final statement from the summit.

It was Beshir’s fourth trip abroad since his indictment in March, and support for him was evident before the summit began.

Libyan leader and chairman of the African Union, Moamer Kadhafi, held reconciliatory talks with Saudi King Abdullah during his time in Doha.

Kadhafi had abused the Saudi monarch in part of an on-going feud between the two leaders.

“You are always lying and you’re facing the grave and you were made by Britain and protected by the United States,” said Kadhafi in front of Abdullah and 15 other leaders at the summit.

“I think Mr Kadhafi is a very unpredictable leader, […] the main irritation is between Saudi Arabia and Libya, rather than the Gulf states and Libya, and this has got to do with the past, Libya has felt slighted by the Saudi king on several issues,” says Ajit Kumar Jha, editor of Qatar Tribune, speaking from Doha.

After a meeting between the two rivals, a Libyan official said the air had been cleared, although no statement was forthcoming from the Saudis.

The main intention of the summit was to resolve differences, following Israel’s offensive in Gaza this year, and divisions over how to respond to the assault.

A special statement was agreed on Arab reconciliation, highlighting the importance of “frankness, transparency, and dialogue in sorting Arab disputes.”

But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stayed away from the summit and there was no update to a 2002 peace initiative tabled by the Saudis.

In a final statement, leaders emphasised the importance of setting a clear date for acceptance of the deal, which offers full normalisation of ties with Israel in exchange for withdrawal from occupied Arab land.