|
Home>News Center>World | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
South American, Arab leaders hold summit
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.
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.
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. |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
