The 14th Arab League (AL) Summit was officially declared open by the host President Emil Lahoud at the five-star hotel Phoenicia Inter-Continental in Beirut on Wednesday with the absence of heavyweights in the Mideast region.
In his keynote address to the opening ceremony, Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb, who is attending the summit on behalf of King Abdullah Bin Hussein, said that Arab nations support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem asits capital, stressing that Israel should implement all relevant UN resolutions on the Mideast issues.
Israel's occupation is the cause of Palestinian uprising, said Ragheb, noting the Mideast peace precess can not be isolated, but should be revived on a comprehensive basis.
Ragheb also urged major world powers to strengthen the mediationto help solve the Mideast crisis and realize a just, durable and comprehensive peace based on all relevant UN resolutions in the region.
He further appealed to Arab nations to solve their disputes through the means of peaceful dialog.
On terrorism, the prime minister stressed that all Arab nations rejected any forms of terrorism, both state and organization terrorism.
The opening ceremony was followed by the hand-over ceremony of AL's rotating presidency from Jordan to Lebanon.
Crown Prince and de facto ruler Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia.
Other dignitaries are Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid, Iraqi Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Izzat Ibrahim and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, AL chief Amr Moussa, EuropeanUnion foreign policy chief Javier Solana, representatives of the African Union and other international organizations also attended the opening ceremony.
The Beirut summit is expected to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraqi issue and pan-Arab economic cooperation in the process of economic globalization.
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2002)
