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Leaders and senior representatives from 22 Arab countries wrapped up in Algiers Wednesday the 17th Arab League (AL) summit, adopting a final resolution on an Arab peace initiative and Arab reforms.
The resolution, read out by AL chief Amr Moussa, endorsed the Arab peace initiative which offered rapprochement with Israel on condition of an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.
The initiative was relaunched on the basis of a similar peace offer endorsed at the 2002 Beirut summit, which was rejected by Israel.
However, Moussa stressed Arab countries would not normalize relations with Israel if the Jewish state offered nothing in return.
For Iraq, the declaration said the Arab leaders underlined their respect for Iraq's unity and sovereignty and the necessity of non-interference in Iraq's internal affairs.
They denounced all forms of terrorism and violence in Iraq, and welcomed a step taken by creditor countries in slimming down Iraqi debts by 80 percent.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said at the summit that he hoped Arab states would be "more engaged" in ridding Iraq of violence.
The declaration also touched on AL reforms, including structural changes, voting system amendment and parliament establishment, but stopped short of spelling out details and timetables.
The participants of the summit decided to set up a special committee to market the peace initiative.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose country holds the AL rotating chair, was assigned to choose members of the committee which is responsible for explaining the peace initiative to Europe, the United States and other nations.
At the closing session, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told Arab leaders in a speech that he expects Syria to fully withdraw from Lebanon before the country's parliamentary elections in May.
Annan earlier held a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the summit sidelines and secured from al-Assad a promise of a full pullout timetable by early April.
Annan said al-Assad promised that the timetable, which would include the withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon, would be ready for a UN envoy's visit to Damascus in the first week of April.
Annan also noted that a fuller probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri could be necessary.
Anti-Syrian emotions are running high in Lebanon after Hariri was assassinated in a massive bombing attack in central Beirut on Feb. 14.
Under mounting pullout pressure, Syria has completed the first stage of its two-phase withdrawal, pulling its troops and intelligence forces back home or to the Bekaa Valley bordering Lebanon.
On the sidelines of the summit, Annan had said the United Nations would continue its efforts to promote Mideast peace talks, stressing it is the best way to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
He told reporters, "As a member of the Quartet (the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia), the United Nations would continue to press a full implementation on both sides of the roadmap."
However, the UN chief stressed needless bloodshed is not the means to solve conflicts. "The right to resist occupation cannot include the right to deliberately kill a man of civilian," Annan said.
The two-day summit, starting from Tuesday at the Nations Palace in Algiers' western suburb, brought together 13 Arab leaders. Other countries sent high-level representatives and delegations.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2005)
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