On the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Algiers, Arab leaders discussed a full withdrawal of Syria from Lebanon.
Officially, leaders expressed solidarity with Lebanon, but according to the London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat, once out of the spotlight, leaders went a step further and discussed a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
The Syria-Lebanon issue was planned to be one of the top priorities at the two-day Arab League summit which began on Tuesday.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad during the summit and said the Syrian leader confirmed his commitment to U.N. Resolution 1559 which calls for withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon.
A large part of the summit was spent discussing the renewal of the 2002 Saudi peace initiative, offering Israel “normalization of relations” in return for its departure from all territory acquired in the 1967 War, a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and an affirmation of the Arab right of return.
Jordan’s King ‘Abdallah II attempted to persuade summit participants to offer a reworked version that he termed “realistic” rather than reissuing a plan that Israel has already rejected and will do so again. The king’s plan was rejected out of hand.
Nine leaders from the 22-member Arab League are not attending the summit for various reasons. Most of them sent lower-ranking officials in their place.
Algerian President ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Bouteflika called for the U.N. to establish a uniform definition of terrorism at the summit.
Bouteflika told the assemblage of Arab leaders that only when such a definition exists can all sides be protected from terror.