DOHA: The forthcoming Arab summit to be held in Doha later this month will not be a normal summit since the Arab world has pinned great expectations on it, the Arab League Secretary General Dr Nabil Al Arabi said here yesterday.
“After the Arab Spring, Arab countries are studying the issues more seriously and they are now determined to focus on main issues,” Al Arabi told the Qatar News Agency (QNA) yesterday, hinting that the discussions at the forthcoming summit will be more focused.
He said that reform and development would top the discussions at the summit. During his visit to Qatar, he discussed with the Qatari officials the topics on the agenda of the Arab Summit.
He held discussions with the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani yesterday.
“The topics will be brief and precise and will focus on the challenges in general and the reform and development. Besides these, two major issues — Palestine and Syria — will be discussed, due to their utmost importance to the Arab world,” said Al Arabi.
He said during the discussions he felt that Qatari leadership was keen on holding a successful summit. What is more important is following up with the summit’s result over the course of the year, he added.
He also discussed the title of the summit, whether it will be challenges in the Arab World, reform and development or both combined.
He noted that the upcoming summit in Doha is a crucial one, adding that he had very high expectations about it.
Commenting on the situation in Syria, he said since two years the Arab League had a clear stand on the crisis.
“We are in favour of a political solution and we don’t have new ideas and we never talk about a military operation in Syria,” said Al Arabia.
“The Arab League is striving for a political solution. We came out with many initiatives but the Syrian regime rejected all them,” he added.
He said there was still a ray of hope about the Syrian national alliance and the government sitting together for negotiations.
He said Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled because talking with Israel had become a “futile effort”
“People should go straight to the main issues- settlement and prisoners- and call up on the Israelis to leave the land they occupied,” said Al Arabi.
The Peninsula
