Arab League chief Amr Mussa joked about Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's wish to attend this week's Arab summit, insisting the Arabs would study the matter.
"You are surely asking this question as a joke," he responded with a laugh to a reporter asking him about Sharon's interview with The Washington Post on Saturday in which Israel's leader said he would like to attend the Arab summit in Beirut.
But Mussa added: "If Sharon wanted to come, we will study whether we can allow him to do so." "And if he did attend, we will consider if we will allow him to go back," he said, provoking a round of applause among Arab journalists.
According to AFP, he was referring to the Washington Post interview in which Sharon said "I don't know if he (Arafat) is going to Beirut. We have not yet decided whether to let him go."
Arab Parliament Member mocks Sharon’s proposal to attend Beirut Summit
Meanwhile, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament mocked on Saturday the proposal by Sharon.
Ahmad al-Tibi, in remarks to the media, said Sharon's proposal was intended for propaganda purposes, adding that Israeli leaders have always tried to circumvent the main problem, which is ending Israel's occupation of Arab lands, according to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
The Prime Minister, in case he decided to go to Beirut, would be arrested for his direct responsibility of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres and genocides of Lebanese people.
The former Israeli minister Yossi Beilin described Sharon's proposal as sheer silliness and called on him to refrain from obstructing Yasser Arafat's travel to Lebanon.
A senior Palestinian official said Saturday that Yasser Arafat "is waiting for guarantees for his return... with Sharon there are no guarantees."
For that reason, said Palestinian Minister for international Cooperation, Nabil Sha'ath, Arafat will leave his decision on whether or not to attend the Arab summit until "the last minute." Arafat "will decide at the last minute whether to come or not to come," said Sha'ath.
"President Arafat wants this summit to succeed... that is why he is sending a high-ranking delegation to represent him in case he won't be able to come," Sha'ath told reporters upon his arrival at Beirut international airport.
Meanwhile, Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Saturday the Palestinians would never accept any decisions made concerning them at Beirut's upcoming Arab summit if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could not attend.
"We will not accept any decision taken at the (Arab) summit which pertains to our rights and our cause, whatever the decision, if it is adopted without Palestine being represented and without Yasser Arafat's presence," said Abed Rabbo. "A summit without President Arafat is an incomplete summit," he went on. "The entire world must know that the era of sponsoring Palestinians, even by brother countries, is over," he concluded. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
