|
|
Browse
our Frontpage |
|
South America-Arab summit eyes
new
closer cooperation |
Brasilia / AFP
05/13/2005
The first Arab League-South American summit opened in Brasilia Tuesday,
aiming to strengthen political and economic ties between regions linked
by migration and the countries’ determination to speed development.
“The (gathering’s) great challenge is to design
a new geography of international economy and trade,” host Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at the opening ceremony in
this futuristic capital city.
“We have a historic opportunity
to lay the foundation of a strong cooperation between South America
and the Arab world,” Lula added.
The summit of more than 30 nations -- including 12 from South America
but not the rest of Latin America -- will mark Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani’s debut on the world stage, but has been somewhat ignored
by many Arab nations.
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmud Abbas also was talking part, amid
tight security with helicopters buzzing overhead, some 9,000 military
and police officers standing watch, and tanks and riot police at the
ready.
Five of the 22 members of the Arab League are represented by a head
of state, and nine South American presidents are on hand. Summit co-chair
and current Arab League leader Algerian President Abdelaziz Buteflika
also was to address the conference.
Saudi Arabia has invited those taking part in Brasilia to a meeting
in Riyadh of oil producing and consuming countries later in the year.
Mercosur -- the South American trade bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
and Uruguay -- was to sign a framework agreement with the Gulf Cooperation
Council on starting negotiations aimed at achieving free trade, officials
said.
Most countries in the Americas have immigrant communities of Lebanese,
Palestinian, Syrian and other Arab origins, and their influence in
local business communities and politics has grown in past decades. |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
