Arab foreign ministers to discuss Iraq
Foreign ministers of three important Arab nations are to meet in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iraq and Palestine.
Arab diplomats said the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria would “elaborate a unified Arab position” on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the meeting.
The decision for the meeting was taken during a visit to Damascus on Saturday by Saudi Crown Prince Abd Allah bin Abd al-Aziz.
The Crown Prince also met Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo on Sunday.
Both the Saudi Crown Prince and the Egyptian president expressed their support for a greater UN role in efforts to rebuild Iraq, Egypt’s official MENA news agency said.
The foreign ministers’ meeting assumes significance in light of the disappointment voiced by Washington about the lack of support by Arab states to Iraq’s Governing Council.
Syria for one, had opposed the US-led war on Iraq.
UN special representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, on Saturday had called on Arab states to give the 25-member US-sponsored Iraqi governing council a chance.
He stressed it was a transitional body that would lead Iraq to free elections.