Alwaght- The 27th Arab Summit has kicked off in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott on Monday amid disagreements and pressing concerns.
The two-day summit, for the first in its history, is hosted by a West African country but was only announced after Morocco apologized from hosting the meetings due to several challenges.
Several Arab leaders will not be attending the meetings for various reasons including those of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine.
The 27th Arab leaders’ summit comes amid crises facing several member states and the Arab region as a whole with the war on terror and the situations in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen topping the agenda. The Palestinian issue is also expected to take center stage during the summit.
On Saturday, Arab foreign ministers vowed to “defeat terrorism”, as they gathered for a preparatory meeting.
In a statement, they also called for a “definitive solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We must defeat terrorism, it’s a priority,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at the beginning of the meeting.
For his part, the Mauritanian FM Isselkou Ould Ahmed Izidbih urged Arab states to coordinate more diligently with African nations for that purpose.
It was also agreed “all (initiatives) that can help to end the crises of the Arab world, especially the Syrian, Libyan and Yemeni conflicts” must be supported, according to an issued statement.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam made clear that the anticipated final communiqué clause, which observers believe will label Hezbollah a “terrorist organisation,” will not be accepted by the Lebanese delegation.
Salam told al-Nahar daily that he was ready to “voice reservations over any such resolution without resorting to a confrontational stance.”
He further stated that “should the issue of Hezbollah be raised, we will respond by saying that it is one of the country’s main components and that it is represented in the government”.
On the sidelines of the summit, Salam met with Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah over bilateral ties and developments in the region.
It is worth mentioning that the summit is held under the title “Hope” which is much needed in a region where the past decade or so has witnessed much turbulence, bloodshed, and destruction. Observers, however, who note how little hope Arab summits have previously yielded for the region, expect this one to be no different.
