Arab Parliament Holds Conference to Promote Solidarity, Discard Differences

A general view of the Arab League delegates meeting. December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A general view of the Arab League delegates meeting. December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
TT

Arab Parliament Holds Conference to Promote Solidarity, Discard Differences

A general view of the Arab League delegates meeting. December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A general view of the Arab League delegates meeting. December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The Arab Parliament will hold on Saturday a conference in which senior leaders will participate at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

The conference will be held as a recognition of the accuracy and seriousness of the current situation and challenges faced by the Arab nation, Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Meshal bin Fahmy al-Salami said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said all this necessitates unifying Arab ranks, discarding differences and boosting solidarity to achieve desired security, stability, development and renaissance in the Arab region.

Salami pointed out that the participating leaders in the conference aim at developing an Arab document along with the Parliament as they have deep knowledge and great experience in the field of joint Arab action.

He added that the document is to be submitted to the Council of the Arab League at the summit level at its next meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March.

The conference will be attended by a number of current and former senior officials as well as a number of senior Arab media figures and intellectuals.

Among the participants are former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and Prince Turki Al Faisal, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Research along with six former premiers, who are Abdulaziz Belkhadem of Algeria, Dr. Iyad Allawi of Iraq, Dr. Mahmoud Jibril of Libya, Dr Hani al-Mulqi of Jordan, Habib al-Seid of Tunisia and Dr. Ahmed bin Dagher of Yemen.

Moreover, Abdulhakim bin Chamash, chairman of the Council of Moroccan of Councilors, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Mutawa, Bahrain’s minister of cabinet affairs, Amr Moussa, former Arab League secretary-general, Professor Ibrahim Ghandour, former Sudanese foreign minister and Dr. Saeb Erekat, secretary of the executive committee and head of the negotiation department in the PLO, Dr. Ibtisam al-Ketbi, president of the Emirates policy center and Dr. Ayed al-Manna, Kuwaiti political researcher, will also attend the conference and participate in its activities.



Blinken Says Syria's HTS Should Learn from Taliban Isolation

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
TT

Blinken Says Syria's HTS Should Learn from Taliban Isolation

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Wednesday on Syria's triumphant HTS opposition group to follow through on promises of inclusion, saying it can learn a lesson from the isolation of Afghanistan's Taliban.
The movement supported by Türkiye has promised to protect minorities since its lightning offensive toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad this month following years of stalemate, AFP reported.
"The Taliban projected a more moderate face, or at least tried to, in taking over Afghanistan, and then its true colors came out. The result is it remains terribly isolated around the world," Blinken said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
After some initial overtures to the West, the Taliban reimposed strict restrictions including barring women and girls from secondary school and university.
"So if you're the emerging group in Syria," Blinken said, "if you don't want that isolation, then there's certain things that you have to do in moving the country forward."
Blinken called for a "non-sectarian" Syrian government that protects minorities and addresses security concerns, including keeping the fight against the ISIS group and removing lingering chemical weapons stockpiles.
Blinken said that HTS can also learn lessons from Assad on the need to reach a political settlement with other groups.
"Assad's utter refusal to engage in any kind of political process is one of the things that sealed his downfall," Blinken said.