Xinhua News Agency, Algiers, November 3 (Reporters Li Rui and Wu Tianyu) The 31st Africa Summit Meeting (Arab League Summit) was held in Algeria Capital Hankan from November 1 to 2. The summit emphasized that Arab countries should strengthen joint actions to deal with new challenges such as food and energy, reaffirm the core position of the Palestinian issue, and called for the stop of bloody conflicts in the Arab world.
emphasizes joint action
This summit is the first summit held after 2019. In addition to the suspended Syria , leaders or senior officials of the other 21 Arab League member states, as well as UN Secretary-General Guterres , Arab League Secretary-General Gate and others attended the meeting.
On November 2, in Algiers, Algeria, Algeria President Teben (right) and Arab League Secretary-General Gate attended the 31st Arab League Summit. Xinhua News Agency (photo provided by the Presidential Palace of Algeria)
This summit is based on the slogan of "unity". At the opening ceremony, the Algerian President Teben said: "The world is experiencing unprecedented changes, the Arab world is experiencing turmoil, and the convening of this Arab League summit is timely." At the closing of the meeting,
issued a statement emphasizing that the Arab world should strengthen joint actions and achieve modernization, oppose all practices of interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries, and insist that the problems of Arab countries are solved by Arabs.
Researcher at the Institute of Foreign Policy of Shanghai Institute of International Studies and Vice President of Chinese Middle East Society believes that Arab countries have some new commonalities and generally pay more attention to development. Many countries have formulated development plans and vision plans based on their respective national conditions. The Arab League summit has returned after three and a half years and ushered in a new situation.
Focus on Food and Energy
This summit was held at the time of the Ukrainian crisis and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia on the world's food and energy markets. How to deal with it has become the focus of the summit. The meeting statement emphasized that Arab countries will jointly respond to food, energy and other challenges and institutionalize these efforts.
Egypt , Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon have a serious dependence on imports of food, and the sharp rise in food prices poses a serious challenge to the food security of these countries. The summit adopted a new Arab food security strategy, hoping to adopt a new agricultural strategy to ensure food security. Hasney Abidi, director of the Arab and Mediterranean World Research Center at Geneva , believes that food security issues are crucial to the Arab people. The above strategy is an important achievement of this summit, which is conducive to countries to stimulate potential and reduce dependence on foreign food.
On March 14, farmers displayed wheat ears in farmland in Gelyub Province, Egypt. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Ahmed Goma)
energy issues are also an issue that Arab countries are highly concerned about. The summit appreciates the balanced policy of protecting energy producers and consumers by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) member states and non-OPEC oil producers to ensure the stability of the global energy market and the sustainability of investment in this field.
"OPEC+" previously announced a significant reduction in production from November, which aroused dissatisfaction of the US government. The US side even threatened to "re-evaluate" its relations with the Arab oil-producing power Saudi . But the Arab League has always expressed support for the "OPEC+" decision to cut production. Analysts believe that this reflects that Arab countries with rich oil and gas resources have significantly enhanced their strategic autonomy based on their pursuit of their own development and security.
Support Palestinian
Another important part of this meeting is to reaffirm the core position of the Palestinian cause and its absolute support for the rights of the Palestinian people. At the summit,
TBen emphasized: "The Palestine issue remains the core issue of our concern and is also the issue we are most prioritized." He called for reaffirming the collective commitment of Arab countries to Arab Peace Initiative to ensure that the Palestinian people establish independent countries on the basis of the "two-state solution".
Algeria, which has just taken over as the rotating presidency of the Arab League, has previously actively promoted internal Palestine reconciliation.Under its mediation, 14 Pakistani political factions, including the Palestinian National Liberation Movement ( Fatah ) and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), signed a settlement agreement in Algiers on October 13. The agreement points out that Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is the only legal representative of the Palestinian people; all parties agree to take practical steps to achieve national reconciliation and hold general elections within one year from the date of signing the agreement.
On October 13, in Algiers, Algeria, Algerian President Teben (seventh from the right) and representatives of the Palestinian political factions attended the signing ceremony of the settlement agreement. Xinhua News Agency
Professor Taofik Bukad believes that one of the important achievements of this summit is that Arab countries have reached an agreement on the Palestine issue, and the Arab League will speak out for Palestine on international occasions.
In addition, the summit also called for the maintenance of peace in the Arab world, and Gate expressed his hope that countries would "stop bloody conflicts that threaten the Arab nation now and in the future." The meeting statement stated on the ongoing turbulent situation in Yemen that it supports the country in achieving a comprehensive political reconciliation to ensure its unity, territorial integrity, security and stability. Updating the armistice agreement is an important step in Yemen's political reconciliation. (Participated reporters: Yang Zhenhai, Huang Ling, Xu Supei)
