Sudan, which has spared no expense to prepare its capital to host Arab leaders at a summit next week, is expected to be rewarded with the presidency of the Arab League and support on issues such as Darfur.
"Of course the host of the summit will be the president and in our opinion (the host) should have been the president of the African Union too," Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, told reporters in Khartoum this week as he prepared for the summit.
Photo: Arab League chief Amr Musa
Moussa said the Arab League did not share its African brothers's reservations about having Sudan, accused of widespread atrocities in its western Darfur region, at the head of the pan-Arab body.- - -
Sudanese opposition politician Mubarak al-Fadil said Arab leaders were not likely to push on the Darfur affair as they traditionally have sat on the fence on divisive issues.
"They wouldn't like to entangle themselves in it," he said. "You are in someone's home - you say these things behind his back but you don't say it to his face."
What Sudan expects Arab Summit to do for Sudan and the Arabs
Excerpt from Interview: Sudan FM Lam Akol:
(Asharq Al-Awsat) Khartoum will host an important Arab summit within days. What have you prepared for this summit? What do you expect this summit to do for Sudan and the Arabs?
(Akol) The Arab summit will be held in Sudan, which will celebrate its 50th independence anniversary this year and the 1st anniversary of the peace agreement. The first topic on the summit agenda is Arab-African cooperation. There are many other topics on the agenda. These include issues related to Sudan like establishing a fund to help the areas affected by war in southern Sudan. There is also a clause on the Arab African countries' participation in the African peace-keeping forces in Darfur. There are also issues related to the Arab Justice Court, the Arab Peace and Security Council, and other such issues. There are many topics on the summit agenda. We expect large participation. We also expect the summit to issue clear resolutions that serve the Arab homeland as a whole, particularly Sudan at this stage.
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