Arab leaders' absence dims summit

Sun Nov 27, 2:48 PM ET

BARCELONA (Reuters) - A low turnout of Arab leaders at the first Euro-Mediterranean summit on Sunday highlighted the difficulties of strengthening the European Union's decade-old partnership with its southern neighbors.

The EU called the ambitious summit hoping to revitalize ties with Near Eastern and North African neighbors and extend cooperation to fighting terrorism and illegal migration, as well as promoting economic and political reforms.

But while nearly all 25 EU leaders attended, only two of the 10 Mediterranean partners -- Turkey and the Palestinian Authority -- sent their top leaders to the two-day conference.

European statesmen put a brave face on the poor turnout by partners absent due to domestic problems or ill health.

"There are obviously various reasons why some of the leaders have not been able to come, but I think we'll have a good conference anyway," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair, co-hosting the summit because London holds the EU presidency.

But one European official said privately the Mediterranean partners had missed a rare opportunity to win more attention and support from Europe. An enlarged EU had tried to turn the focus south from its eastern neighbors "and the south has not responded at the level it deserved," the official said.

Last-minute negotiations dragged on over a code of conduct to fight terrorism, and a common vision statement, with familiar differences over the definition of terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict holding up agreement.

Syria and other Arab partners want the EU to distinguish between terrorism and the right to resist occupation, while the Europeans and Israel oppose any qualification of terrorism.

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"At the end of today or maybe tomorrow we will have a wording on these two difficult issues," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

At a joint appearance with Blair, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to fight terrorism and work to improve security, thanking the EU for its role in opening the first Palestinian-controlled crossing from Gaza to the outside world.

"We also know that security and control of security is extremely important and our duty is to work toward this, so we have events which could have a positive impact on the peace process," he told a news conference.

On the streets of Barcelona, several thousand anti-summit demonstrators staged two marches under the banner "No to the Mediterranean of capital and war."

One organizer told Europa Press news agency the summit was a "meeting of hypocrites" and said the neo-liberal reforms the EU advocated would worsen economic and social problems.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the longest-serving Arab leader, pulled out on Saturday citing Egypt's parliamentary election, in which opposition candidates made big gains.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was flown to Paris on Saturday for urgent hospital tests on his digestive system.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had pulled out earlier after his coalition collapsed, forcing an early election. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stood in for him.

An Arab diplomat said some leaders, such as Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, had preferred to stay home rather than be lectured by the Europeans on democracy, human rights and freedom of expression.

Tunisia was criticized for its repressive handling of the media, dissidents and non-government organizations during a UN World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis this month.

The presidents of Syria and Lebanon were persuaded to stay away because they are in diplomatic quarantine over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. A UN investigation concluded senior Syrian and Lebanese officials were involved in the February 14 Beirut bombing.

The summit was set to reaffirm the goal of creating a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010, established at the founding Barcelona conference in 1995. The EU has agreed to open talks on trade in agriculture and services next year after opening its markets to industrial goods from the south.

The EU plans to maintain an annual 1 billion euros of grants and 2 billion euros in loans to the Mediterranean states but to focus the aid more on countries that make political and economic reforms through a new "governance facility."

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft and Sebastian Alison)

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