Arab summit ends with usual support for Palestinians and Iraqis

KHARTOUM (AP) – Arab leaders concluded an annual summit Wednesday with their usual pledges of solidarity with Palestinians and Iraqis.
The two-day summit, devalued by the absence of several key heads of state, also backed host Sudan in its opposition to the deployment of U.N.-led peacekeepers in its troubled western Darfur region.

In a sign of apathy about the meetings, Saudi Arabia, next year’s chair country, declined to host the 2007 summit, saying it preferred that it be held in Egypt, home to the headquarters of the Arab League.

The annual meetings of the Arab League regularly tackle challenging regional issues but are often criticized for concluding with resolutions that are long on rhetoric but short on concrete action.

What’s most interesting about this article in today’s Asharq Alawsat is its tone. The piece seems to say that the Arab League has become an exhausted and futile body, barely worth the effort to maintain.

There’s a distinct tone that the AL isn’t living up to its potential, substituting cheap talk for action, and funking out of its responsibilities toward issues like Dafur and the return of Arab embassies to Iraq.

The piece is an Associated Press story, with no byline, so it’s not clear who’s written it. But by chosing to publish the story, the paper is supporting the analysis. Interesting…