JEDDAH: Pinning hope on Arab aspirations of greater unity and integration for the resolution of main crises in the Arab region, Arab leaders started arriving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday to attend the 32nd ordinary session of the Arab League Council. According to Saudi Gazette, the conflict in Sudan, the Israeli-Palestine issue, and Syria are on top of the agenda of Arab League summit.
The leaders who arrived in Jeddah on Thursday included Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, and head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi.
Arab League Summit in Jeddah
The Syrian delegation, led by Minister for Foreign Affairs Faisal Mekdad, was also attending the preparatory meeting of foreign ministers from Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Arab foreign ministers resumed the 2nd day of preparatory sessions of the Arab League on Thursday, finalizing the agenda of the session. The ministers stressed the significance of a truce in Sudan to ensure the safety of their nationals and called for the crisis to be treated as an internal issue.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) took over the rotating presidency of the Arab League summit as Foreign Minister of Algeria Ahmed Attaf handed over the presidency to Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Wednesday.
In his presidential address, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister underlined the need for unity among Arab nations to address common problems and problems as well as to confront key global challenges. The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia welcomed the Arab delegations, particularly the Syrian delegation. He highlighted that the world is going through “great challenges that warrant us to stand united to confront them”.
In his speech, the Secretary General of the Arab League affirmed that the Arab presence is full at the Jeddah summit, while welcoming the return of Syria to the Arab League. He pointed out that there are positive indications from Turkey and Iran to stop their interference in the affairs of Arab nations.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) hosting of the Arab summit comes as an extension of the main role of the leadership of Saudi Arabia at the regional and global levels, and strengthening communications with leaders of the Arab world. The 32nd session of the Arab Summit is being held at a time when the world is going through unprecedented conditions in terms of regional and global crises.
This necessitates the Arab nations to find procedures through which they can address common challenges, enhance regional stability and security, and achieve well-being for their nations and citizens, by evolving mechanisms for political coordination as per the umbrella of the Arab League, in addition to further enhancing economic cooperation and advancing development and progress in various fields that directly affect the Arab nationals.
