Suchergebnisse

Representatives of three of the members of the Arab League bordering on Israel (Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan) met at Beirut on October I, 1956, reportedly to discuss the lodging of a joint complaint to the UN Security Council relative to Israel military actions along their frontiers bordering on Israel.

The eighteenth ordinary session of the Council of the Arab League was held in Cairo, March 28 to April 9, 1953. The League members were, in general, represented by the heads of their diplomatic missions in Cairo although the Egyptian government was understood to have requested that each state send its foreign minister. Although the recommendations of the Council were not made public, they were understood to have covered such questions as west Germany's ratification of the reparations agreement with Israel, the economic boycott of Israel and the forthcoming visit of the Secretary of State of the United States (Dulles). At the close of the meeting, the assistant Secretary-General (Ahmed Shukairy) said that the question of the dispute between the United Kingdom and Egypt over the Suez canal zone had been discussed in the course of a general survey of political problems but that it had not been raised specifically. During the Council session a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League states was called for April 3; however, the governments of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon declined to attend. There were some reports that their refusal stemmed from a disinclination to become involved in any disagreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom; however, officials in Lebanon denied the accuracy of the reports, saying that the meeting had been postponed because its principal purpose had been to consider political problems of the Arab world in the light of a report which the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Prince Faisal) was to make upon his return from the United States and Prince Faisal had not returned in time to hold the meeting as scheduled.

CouncilAt a meeting in Cairo in June 1954, attended only by diplomatic representatives in Cairo of the League's member states, the Arab League Council approved a Pakistani proposal to hold an Arab-Islamic conference in Jerusalem. A number of appointments of League officials were made at the session, which also decided to contribute financially to the establishment of a religious institute in the Gaza Strip. The 22d session of the Council opened in Cairo on October 30, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Ibrahim al-Fadl (Saudi Arabia). A resolution was passed congratulating Egypt on the signing of the Anglo-Egyptian agreement on the Suez Canal Zone. According to press reports, it was decided at a further session of the Council to form an Arab mutual defense pact, to defend Arab states against "foreign aggression". The pact would be a development of the present Arab collective security pact. It had also been decided, according to the press, to let Arab governments deal as they wished with United States offers of military and economic aid.

On July 30, 1962, the government of Syria presented a formal complaint against alleged United Arab Republic interference in its internal affairs to Abdul Khaliq Hassouna, Secretary-General of the Arab League. The Secretary-General at Syria's request said he would start preparations for holding an extraordinary meeting of the League's Council to discuss the complaint, but it would take at least five days.

The 23d regular session of the Council of the Arab League met in Cairo from March 27 to 31, 1955; it approved, among other matters, Yemen's request for discussion of its dispute with the United Kingdom. During the session, the League's Political Committee approved the Secretariat's report on the harsh treatment of Arabs living in Israel and recommended that the United Nations consider the matter.

A column of individual comments on current issues contributed by the Director of the Howard League, by members of the Council of the League, or by the Editors of the Howard Journal.

At the invitation of President Nasser of the United Arab Republic, the heads of state of eleven of the thirteen member countries of the Arab League met in Cairo on January 13–16, 1964, to consider Israel's plan for the partial diversion of the waters of the Jordan River for the purpose of irrigating the Negev Desert. (The chiefs of staff of the eleven Arab countries met in Cairo on December 6–9, 1963, to discuss the Jordan waters question, but no statement was issued.)

The Arab League Council held a meeting in Benghazi, Libya, from May 31 to June 6, 1958, to consider the Lebanese government's complaint of interference by the United Arab Republic in Lebanon's internal affairs. The Lebanese delegation informed the final meeting that its government was unable to accept a four-part resolution which had been devised by Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to produce a compromise acceptable to the two disputants. The Lebanese delegation's leader, Beshir Awal, was understood to have maintained that as the first clause of the resolution (calling on all Arab states to refrain from propaganda likely to upset normal relations between them) did not specifically mention the United Arab Republic (UAR) press and radio campaign against the Lebanese government, it was impossible for Lebanon to comply with the fourth clause of the resolution (that Lebanon should withdraw its complaint now before the Security Council). The Sudanese delegate, Mohamed Maghoub, was believed to have suggested that the Council could perhaps agree on the clause of the resolution which contained an appeal to the Lebanese people to cease from fratricidal strife. Agreement on this, too, proved impossible. Said Fahmy, for the UAR, gave his opinion that the Lebanese government had regarded the League Council session merely as a matter of form before taking its complaint to the Security Council. The delegates from Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, and Libya were sympathetic toward Lebanon.

According to press reports, the Arab League Council, at an April 3, 1960, meeting in Cairo, decided tentatively that its members should sever diplomatic relations with France in protest of the second French atomic test in the Sahara, and recommended the freezing of French assets in several Arab countries, as well as the boycotting of Paris economically and culturally. The action did not apply to Iraq and Tunisia, since they were not represented at the meeting, and it was considered doubtful that Lebanon would accede to such measures due to its traditional attachment to France.

The Political Committee of the Arab League met in Cairo beginning December 20, 1952, under the chairmanship of Fathy Radwan (Egypt) to discuss questions relating to Palestine and north Africa. On December 25, the committee issued a statement approving the failure of passage in the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution adopted by the Ad Hoc Political Committee calling for direct negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. The committee condemned "the mere idea of an invitation to Arabs to negotiate with the Israelis" and expressed the hope "that there would be no repetition of these attempts".

The Council of the Arab League, meeting in Cairo on October I, sent congratulations to Premier Nasser of Egypt on his armaments purchase agreement with Czechoslovakia. The period subsequent to the announcement of the agreement was regarded as one of heightened tension between the Arab states and Israel. On November 9, Prime Minister Anthony Eden (United Kingdom) declared that his government would like to assist Israel and the Arab states toreach a settlement of their differences. If those nations wanted to attain peace, he stated, they would have tomake some compromise on their positions; the Arab states based their claims on the 1947 and other UN resolutions, while the Israel position was founded on the Armistice Agreement of 1949 and on the territory they currently occupied. In the view of the Prime Minister, it would be possible to bridge the gap between the two positions through negotiations, and he stated that if a mutually acceptable boundary arrangement were reached, the United Kingdom and perhaps other powers would be prepared to give a formal guarantee to both sides. The Arab League Political Committee on November 13 considered the Eden proposals, and although no conclusive information as to its view of the proposals was made public, it was reported that Egyptian Premier Nasser welcomed them. The reaction in Israel, however, was reported to be highly unfavorable, the Israel view being that the territorial changes proposed by the Prime Minister included cession to Egypt of a large part of the Negev and of the port of Elath on the Gulf of Akaba.

On May 18, 1948, the United Nations Security Council approved a questionnaire which asked the Arab League states to report whether they had troops in Palestine, and if so, where such troops were located, what their military objectives were, and whether negotiations were going on with the Jews. Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia replied on May 22, and Yemen and the Arab Higher Committee within the next two days, that their troops had been sent in to protect the Arab inhabitants from Zionist aggression and terrorism, and that they would not negotiate with Israel for an end of the Palestine war. The Council followed the questionnaire with a request on May 22 for a cease-fire in Palestine. The Arab League's Political Committee met in Amman, Transjordan, May 25, to discuss the cease-fire appeal and indicated the acceptance of the Arab states on the condition that there would be a cessation of Jewish immigration, a condition which was unacceptable to the representatives of Israel. On May 29, the Security Council passed a resolution calling for a four-week truce which was accepted on June 2 by the Provisional Government of Israel and the seven member nations of the Arab League, the latter stating that the suspension of hostilities was merely a means of finding the just solution of the Palestine problem. The truce, to go into effect on June 11, was accepted unconditionally by both parties on June 9. United Nations' Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte announced that no military advantage was to accrue to either side under the cease-fire and the truce.

The heads of state of three members of the Arab League, Premier Nasser of Egypt, King Saud of Saudi Arabia and King Ahmed of Yemen, met in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, on April 20 and 21, 1956, to form a military alliance. At the meeting the three leaders also exchanged views on plans to insure the development of economic, cultural and technical cooperation among their countries. According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the three leaders had reached agreement "in the light of the Arab people's aspirations, freedom, dignity, peace and security". Some press observers stated that the Egyptian-Syrian-Saudi Arabian military alliance formed in March 1956 had as its primary aim the forging of a strong Arab defense around Israel, while the new Saudi Arabian-Egyptian-Yemen pact appeared to be aimed chiefly at the United Kingdom and its claims in the area.

On May 14, 1951 meetings were held of the Council and Political Committee of the Arab League in Damascus. Press reports indicated that the meeting of the Political Committee concerned the question of whether or not the Arab states should put into effect a real military alliance. On the same day the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies had discussed the ratification of the Arab collective security pact. Egypt had been the originator of the pact which although initialled by six of the seven Arab nations had only been ratified by Saudi-Arabia. The press deduced from these reports that Syria wanted to know where it stood in case the Israeli-Syrian conflict became more serious. Iraq had already offered any support Syria asked for and sent some military detachments and an anti-aircraft unit through Syrian territory to the Israeli border. The Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Israel (Sharett), however, in an address to the Knesset Parliament in Jerusalem, warned the Political Committee that Israel was firmly resolved to defend every inch of her territory against encroachment or domination by Syria.