REVIEW - Arab League Countries To Discuss Economy, Social Development Without Syria, Libya

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) The participants of the Economic Summit of the Arab League will discuss joint economic and social projects of the Arab world at the meetings in Beirut taking place on January 17-20.

However, the discussions on Syria will not be included in the program due to the absence of a delegation from Damascus, a source in Lebanon's Foreign Ministry told Sputnik.

"There is nothing that will directly involve Syria and can be discussed in its absence. This is a general Arab meeting. Meetings that will take place before the meeting of the heads of state at the ministerial level or level of permanent representatives may raise certain issues, which are not included in the general agenda of the summit, but we are not aware of this," the source said.

The organizers of the summit in Beirut reported on Monday that 24 items on general Arab economic and social issues were planned for discussion. It is expected that three working sessions will be held: those of relevant ministries, foreign ministers, and working groups. The final meeting of the heads of state will conclude the summit. It is believed that, based on the summit outcome, a final resolution and the Beirut declaration will be adopted.

"The point of such meetings is to discuss issues, which we are talking about constantly. This is not a meeting devoted to, say, Lebanon demanding from the Arab world to support the country's energy sector. We usually ask the Arab states and the international community to confirm our right to our water and energy resources," the source explained.

According to the source, political issues are not included in the agenda of the summit.

"The issues of refugees and citizens of Palestine may be discussed, but this is not something new, it is an enduring feature," the source added.

SYRIA'S PARTICIPATION IN ARAB LEAGUE

In recent weeks, the most intriguing issue of the upcoming summit in Beirut was the question of whether Syrian President Bashar Assad would be invited and whether the membership of Syria in the Arab League would to be restored.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry declared on January 8 that Syria should take a series of measures to resolve the crisis in the country in order to restore its membership in the Arab League.

Shoukry's statement was preceded by statements of several countries, as well as the Arab Parliament in favor of Syria's return to the Arab League.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said last week that holding the summit without Syria's participation would be ineffective, and offered to postpone it, amid the absence of a government in Lebanon, which had not been formed since May 2018.

"If a decision to suspend Syria's membership in the Arab League was issued, then it can be considered invalid, it is illegitimate, many Arab states began to deviate from it, including the United Arab Emirates, which opened an embassy in Syria. Before that the president of Sudan visited Damascus, and other countries are taking similar steps," Berri said in a statement to Sputnik on January 11.

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told Sputnik a day later that Syria's invitation to the organization's summit in Tunisia in March would not be discussed during the summit in Beirut.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011, after the outbreak of the armed conflict in the country. A number of Arab countries recalled their ambassadors from Damascus. The leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic then declared that it did not accept the decision of the Arab ministers to suspend Syria's participation in the work of the pan-Arab organization, considering the move illegal.

Since then, Syria, which is one of the founding states of the Arab League, has not been participating in the work of the organization. At the same time, the Arab League did not actually take part in the negotiations on the Syrian settlement, despite the fact that it is a key country in the Arab world.

Another reason for the widespread interest in the Beirut summit was Libya's refusal to participate after the unambiguous statement of the head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan.

On Saturday, Qabalan protested over Libya's invitation to the Arab League summit and convened an emergency meeting on this issue. Citing national interests linked to the kidnapping of Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa Sadr, Sheikh Mohammad Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine, the head of the Shiite council threatened to take people to the streets and block the airport in case of the Libyan delegation arrival.

Musa Sadr and his companions were invited to Tripoli in 1978 by then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. From Tripoli, he was to go to Rome to meet with the Pope. However, neither Sadr, nor his companions made it to Italy. It is still unknown what happened to the spiritual leader of the Lebanese Shiites. Representatives of the Shiite religion in Lebanon accused Gaddafi of abducting the cleric, and are also blaming the current Libya's government for the incident. Meanwhile, the son of former Libyan leader, Hannibal Gaddafi, was arrested and is in a Lebanese prison.

Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Arbad told Sputnik on January 14 that the Libyan Foreign Ministry decided not to participate in the summit.

"The seat of the Libyan delegation will be empty," he said.

On the same day, media published a video showing how supposedly supporters of the Shiite Amal movement, whose leader is Nabih Berri, removed the Libyan flag from the summit venue, tore it up and replaced it with the flag of the Amal movement. Several hours later, Libyan protesters attacked the Lebanese embassy in Tripoli, and the Libyan High Council of State called for suspension of diplomatic relations with Lebanon over the desecration of a Libyan flag in Beirut.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil sent a letter to his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Siala, expressing his regret on the refusal of the Libyan delegation to participate in the Beirut summit, and condemning all the actions that affected the Libyan government and its participation in the summit.

The organizers of the Arab League summit announced the introduction of enhanced security measures in Beirut in connection with the arrival of a large number of high-ranking officials.