Yemen expresses shock at postponement of Arab Summit in TunisYemen’s new initiative still alive [Archives:2004/724/Front Page]

Mohammed bin Sallam
President Saleh has expressed shock and surprize at the decision of Tunisia not to hold the Arab summit as scheduled during 29-30 March.
Despite his shock and dismay, President Saleh continued to press on the need for reforms through his new initiative, which he believes will have a positive role in getting the Arab world out of its current crisis.
The official media revealed last Friday the Yemeni initiative President Saleh, who has expressed personaly surprize to the postponement of the summit, was expected to present during the Arab Summit. The initiative aims -according to its text- to regain security and stability in Iraq, to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and to establish peace in the region. The initiative proposes the formation of a three-party committee and to draw up a roadmap to regain the security and stability of Iraq. It demands dispatching an international force to separate the Palestinians and Israelis based on 5 June 1967 borders. The initiative stipulates the holding of a regional peace conference, including Israel, after the declaration of the foundation of the Palestinian state, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the region and the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab lands.

The text of the initiative:
First: Iraqi crisis
1- The formation of a three-party committee composed of the UN, Arab League and coalition forces representative with a representative of the Iraqi Governing Council, concerned with draw up a roadmap, to include:
a- Guarantee of unity of Iraq, confronting any secessionist disputes.
b- Setting up a security plan to regain security and stability in Iraq and dispatch an international force to Iraq under the supervision of the UN and the Arab League.
c- The withdrawal of occupation forces from Iraqi cities with the arrival of the international forces.
d- The formation of a national assembly representing all ethnic groups to formulate the Iraqi constitution under the supervision of the three-party committee and to hold elections after one year based on an election law banning any parties based on ethnic, religious or sectarian principles. The political parties will represent the spectrum of Iraqi people as to ensure the establishment of a democratic independent unified Iraq based on correct national grounds.
e- The reformation of the army and security forces without ethnic or religious allegiances, to be ready in two years time coinciding with the permanent withdrawal of occupation forces and remainder of international forces.

Second: Arab-Israeli Conflict:
Reactivating the role of the four-party committee while including the Arab League to implement the Roadmap to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and to consider the Arab Peace Initiative as complementary to the Roadmap. The four-party committee will carry out the following:
1- Dispatch an international force to separate the Palestinians and Israelis according to borders of 5 June 1967.
2- The obligation of Palestinians and Israelis to halt violence and the declaration of an armistice between them reinforced by a UN resolution towards the implementation of Roadmap and related resolutions of the UN headed and the establishment of a Palestinian state on borders of 5 June 1967.
3- The announcement of an Arab decision unifying all Palestinian factions under one unified leadership participated in by all parties.
4- Work to eradicate the discriminatory barrier.
5- The commencement of rebuilding Palestine and the state's apparatuses, particularly the security apparatus.
6- The Israeli withdrawal from Syrian and Lebanese occupied lands within a specified time frame and an Arab-Israeli agreement guaranteeing the Arab and Israeli rights.
7- The obligation to the declaration of the Middle East Region empty of weapons of mass destruction and setting up a plan to disarm the countries of the region, including Israel.
8- The holding of a peace conference of countries of the region following the announcement of the foundation of the Palestinian state, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab lands.

On the other hand, as of 27 March 2004, the Arab Foreign Ministers have expressed surprize to the sudden decision of Tunisia to postpone the Arab summit. This happened after preliminary meetings of the Arab ministers have not reached an agreement on the goals of the Arab summit, that was scheduled for 29-30 of this month.
The Republic of Yemen has presented its initiative to America and EU and the permanent members of the Security Council. France and some European countries have positively responded to it, according to September 26 Newspaper.
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