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Monday, March 30, 2009

Doha showcasing Arab disunity and support for genocide

There is an Arab League summit starting today in Doha, Qatar, and - as usual - it highlights the differences between Arabs more that their purported "unity."

In fact, pretty much the only unified statements that the Arab League has ever made have been support of Palestinian Arabs and denunciations of Israel.

This year, Egypt refused to attend, due to disputes between Egypt and Qatar. Egypt feels that Qatar has fallen under the influence of Iran and Qatar, including through Al Jazeera, has bitterly criticized Egypt for keeping the Rafah border closed.

Saudi King Abdullah walked out of the opening session following remarks made by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But there is one issue that the Arab League does seem unified about this year: supporting genocidal Sudanese president al-Bashir.
The Arab leaders are expected to show support for Al-Bashir after the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted him for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur province. The indictment is perceived in the Middle East as a Western attempt to undermine a sitting Arab leader.

Al-Bashir adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Doha, according to Reuters, "We expect this popular uprising of support for Sudan, not just in the Arab world, to be translated into a strong resolution that meets the hopes of the Arab street."
Hmmm...the Arab League defying the International Criminal Court? But I thought that they had such respect for international law!