AL JAZEERA: ARAB LEADERS SEEK COMMON GROUND

Arab leaders have begun talks in Doha, the Qatari capital, in a bid to find a common approach towards key issues confronting the Middle East, including a common approach towards Israel’s new government, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the global financial crisis and the issuing of an international arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president. 

Addressing the opening session, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, urged Israel to freeze its building of settlements in the occupied West Bank.  Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who attended the conference despite the warrant for his arrest on charges of war crimes by the ICC, defended himself in his speech and also urged support for the Palestinians.  While seventeen heads of state are attending the two-day gathering, more than initially expected, there were been some notable abstentions, including Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. 

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, also used the opportunity to hit out at Israel, saying “there is no peace partner for Arabs in Israel”.

Question to the Blogosphere:  Do you think that these series of meeting among Arab leaders will lead to useful policies for the many serious issues in the Middle East, or will the absence of important leaders like Mubarak doom the meetings to failure?  Do you think that these meetings will help bring peace to the Middle East, or solidify the parties’ oppositions to one another?  That is, will the meeting increase animosity between the Arabs and their Israeli neighbors?  Does have al-Bashir at the conference delegitimize these efforts in the eyes of the international community?