it
en
fr
es
eo
Nl
Yemen Proposes Replacing Arab League With Arab Union
Tweet
CAIRO, 11 February 2004 — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called yesterday for the Arab League to be replaced with an EU-style Arab Union so its member states carry more weight on the world stage.
Saleh, at a press conference here with Arab League chief Amr Moussa, said however that his country would accept less sweeping changes if fellow Arab states opposed its proposal.
“Yemen presented a proposal for an Arab Union,” Saleh said after talks with the head of the organization.
He said this should be inspired by the European Union and other regional blocs to “develop common Arab action with a view to giving international and regional weight to Arab countries.”
“But if our (Arab) brothers have reservations or consider that proclaiming a union would be premature, we are prepared to present other serious proposals or study the proposals of every other party.”
Saleh arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with Egyptian and Arab League officials ahead of this year’s Arab summit, slated to be held in Tunis at the end of March.
He and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak reviewed “the general Arab situation”, underlined their “joint determination to work together to encourage Arab action” and “agreed to strengthen cooperation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said.
They also discussed ideas put forward by Egypt and Yemen aimed at modernizing the Arab League.
For his part, Moussa said “it is time to develop the Arab League and give it a push forward, because the situation is serious” in the Arab world and the league should be “strong or not exist at all”.
Tunisia has still not decided whether to host the summit, he said, adding it would otherwise be held in Cairo.
Moussa was due to meet with Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali and other officials about the date and site of the next summit, his spokesman Hossam Zaki said. A source close to Moussa said he counted on receiving a “definitive decision” about the summit site.
Saleh, at a press conference here with Arab League chief Amr Moussa, said however that his country would accept less sweeping changes if fellow Arab states opposed its proposal.
“Yemen presented a proposal for an Arab Union,” Saleh said after talks with the head of the organization.
He said this should be inspired by the European Union and other regional blocs to “develop common Arab action with a view to giving international and regional weight to Arab countries.”
“But if our (Arab) brothers have reservations or consider that proclaiming a union would be premature, we are prepared to present other serious proposals or study the proposals of every other party.”
Saleh arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with Egyptian and Arab League officials ahead of this year’s Arab summit, slated to be held in Tunis at the end of March.
He and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak reviewed “the general Arab situation”, underlined their “joint determination to work together to encourage Arab action” and “agreed to strengthen cooperation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said.
They also discussed ideas put forward by Egypt and Yemen aimed at modernizing the Arab League.
For his part, Moussa said “it is time to develop the Arab League and give it a push forward, because the situation is serious” in the Arab world and the league should be “strong or not exist at all”.
Tunisia has still not decided whether to host the summit, he said, adding it would otherwise be held in Cairo.
Moussa was due to meet with Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali and other officials about the date and site of the next summit, his spokesman Hossam Zaki said. A source close to Moussa said he counted on receiving a “definitive decision” about the summit site.
