Arab League Summit
By the Editor

OF-late, Pakistan’s diplomatic standing – at the global level in general and within the Muslim Ummah in particular – has been recognized time and again.

This has been manifested by the reality that President Pervez Musharraf has been invited – as a special guest – to attend the Arab League summit on Middle East issue which began in the Saudi capital Riyadh – Wednesday.

The invitation to attend the Summit indicates the vital role – the President of Pakistan is playing in efforts to meet the major challenges facing the Muslim Ummah.

As a matter of fact, President Musharraf has carved out a special place for himself because of his intensive interaction with the world leaders on volatile issues – posing perils to the world peace.

President Musharraf has all along been advocating moderation on the part of the Islamic world and for the West to play its role in addressing the root causes of terrorism and extremism by resolving the disputes involving the Muslim world like Palestine and Kashmir.

The invitation by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia to the President of Pakistan is quite understandable – as he has been very vocal for the resolution of the Palestinian dispute.

For this purpose, he visited several Arab and other like-minded Muslim countries – recently – to exchange views for building consensus on which Palestine and other related problems could be resolved through a collective voice of the Ummah.

This is perhaps for the first time that a non-Arab country leader has been associated with in-house discussions of the regional organization – the Arab League.

Khadim-e-Harmain Sharifain, through his good offices, succeeded in bringing about a rapprochement between Hamas and Al-Fatah rival groups leading to the formation of a National Unity Government in Palestine.

In 2002, the Saudi King – in his capacity as Crown Prince – had mooted the idea of having normal ties with the Jewish State in return for land for peace and a just settlement of the Palestinian problem – establishment of an independent Palestinian State.

His initiative was seen as the most acceptable and workable plan to resolve the decades-old problem but Tel Aviv did not take advantage of this liberal offer with potential to bring durable peace to the region.

Now, it is to be seen what transpires from the Riyadh Summit as – on the eve of the moot – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has categorically stated that Arab States would not amend their 2002 offer – in any mode or manner.

Yet, we feel optimistic that the new session of Arab League summit would not only endorse the plan but would also express its full solidarity – in the final declaration – with the new Unity Government that still faces discrimination and blockade imposed since Hamas came to power –almost a year ago.●