ALGIERS — Arab leaders gathered in the
Algerian capital on Tuesday for their first
summit since a string of normalization deals with Israel that have divided the
region.
اضافة اعلان
Since the last
Arab League summit in 2019, several members of the 22-member bloc — for decades
a forum for strident declarations of support for the Palestinian cause — have
normalized ties with Israel.
The UAE went
first in a historic US-mediated deal that made the country the third Arab
state, after Egypt and Jordan, to establish full ties with Israel.
The UAE’s move
sparked similar accords with Bahrain and Morocco — and a provisional agreement
with Sudan — deepening Morocco’s decades-old rivalry with its neighbor Algeria.
This week’s
summit, postponed several times due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, coincides with
elections in Israel that could see hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu return
to power with his far-right allies.
Algeria remains
a steadfast supporter of the Palestinians, even mediating a reconciliation deal
in October between rival factions Fatah and Hamas.
While few
believe the deal will last, it was seen as a public relations win for Algeria,
which has been seeking more regional clout on the back of its growing status as
a gas exporter following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This week’s
summit is another opportunity for President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to push that
agenda forward, despite high-profile Arab leaders being absent from the summit.
He has rolled
out the red carpet for his guests, including his Egyptian, Palestinian and
Tunisian counterparts
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Mahmoud Abbas, and Kais Saied
respectively, as well as Qatar’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
The UAE’s ruler
Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan stayed away, instead sending the country’s vice
president, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.
Charm offensive
The main roads of Algiers have been decked out with national flags and
huge billboards welcoming “brother Arabs”, ahead of a dinner hosted by
Tebboune.
“Algerian
foreign policy has gone on the offensive at the regional, African and Arab
levels,” said Geneva-based expert Hasni Abidi.
But Algeria has
also been unnerved by Morocco’s security and defense cooperation with Israel,
adding to decades of mistrust fuelled by a dispute over the Western Sahara.
The status of
Western Sahara –– a former Spanish colony considered a “non-self-governing
territory” by the UN –– has pitted Morocco against the Algeria-backed
Polisario Front since the 1970s.
In August 2021,
Algiers cut diplomatic ties with Rabat alleging “hostile acts”.
Participants in
the summit face the challenge of formulating a final resolution, which has to
be passed unanimously.
With conflicts
in Syria, Libya, and Yemen also on the agenda, sources say foreign ministers
are trying to reach consensus on the wording around Turkish and Iranian
“interference” in the region — and whether to mention Ankara and Tehran by name
or not.
“The paradox of
this summit is that it’s being billed as a unifying event, whereas each Arab
state actually has its own agenda and goals fitting its interests,” Abidi said.
“So ultimately
the
Arab League is the perfect mirror of Arab foreign policy.”
That point is
underlined by the absence of several key figures, notably Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, reported to have an ear infection, Morocco’s King Mohammed
VI, and Bahrain’s leader.
“The Arab states
which have normalized with Israel are not enthusiastic about the idea of a coming
together to condemn their position,” said Abidi.
Syria’s membership
Another source of controversy has been Algeria’s efforts to bring the
Syrian government under President
Bashar Al-Assad back into the Arab League, a
decade after its membership was suspended amid a brutal crackdown on 2011 Arab
Spring-inspired protests.
Abidi said those
“highly risky” efforts had been shelved.
President
Vladimir Putin, Assad’s key backer, sent a message saying Russia was committed
to cooperation with the league to boost “security”.
Putin called for
conflicts to “be resolved on the basis of generally accepted international law
and a commitment to strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of countries.”
Pierre Boussel
of France’s Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) said Russia backed Syria’s
return but had decided not to force it through “in a way that would have
affected its relations with Arab countries already badly scalded by the
economic impact of the Ukrainian conflict”.
Commodity
importers, notably Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan, have been hit especially
hard by soaring prices of wheat and oil, even as energy-producing Arab states
have seen their coffers swell.
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