Word: summited
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...latest attacks followed two bomb blasts in Jerusalem the previous day for which Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, and ongoing clashes throughout the West Bank. The Israeli attacks came as no surprise - Israel had promised a robust military retaliation, but had waited for the conclusion of the Arab League summit (which wrapped up Wednesday in Jordan) to minimize the diplomatic fallout...
...Scott MacLeod: Symbolically, the states attending the summit will say that the Palestinians are the primary focus, partly because that's an issue on which they'll find it easy to agree. But the most important thing happening at the summit is redefining the Arab world's relationship with Iraq. Over the last year, in particular, Iraq has made a very aggressive effort to rehabilitate itself in the Arab world. They've lobbied the Arab street, highlighting the conditions of ordinary Iraqis under sanctions. And they've also given high-profile support to the Palestinian cause during the intifada, which...
...summit is going to debate a lot of the specifics, but Arab leaders are being driven to lift sanctions both by strong Arab public opinion against sanctions and by economic factors. A lot of Arab countries stand to gain if sanctions are eased, giving them greater access to trade with Iraq in lean times. But most Arab regimes also don't trust Saddam, and some, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, are adamant that if sanctions are to be lifted, Iraq must pay a price - in some form of apology to Kuwait and undertaking to never again invade. But Iraq...
...matter how the summit fine-tunes its resolutions in search of compromise, it's worth noting that Iraq has made important inroads against sanctions and in getting back to the center of Arab politics. The Saudis and Kuwait are actually on the defensive against Iraqi pressure going into this summit. Still, U.N. sanctions, which are tied to weapons inspections, will remain in place regardless of what transpires at the Arab League. So Saddam may be moving around quite a bit and making some noise in what the Americans like to call his "box," but he's a long way from...
...intifada, calling on Israel to lift its siege of Palestinian areas, probably also calling for international protection of Palestinian civilians. The only controversy around the Palestinian issue is the fact that only a tiny fraction of the $1 billion promised to the Palestinians by the last Arab League summit has been delivered - in large part because of concern over corruption in Arafat's administration. They'll probably find a way around this by releasing the money in monthly tranches, in order to allow for close scrutiny of how it's spent...