(Washington Times) Editorial - At this week's Summit of South American-Arab Countries held in Brasilia, Brazilian President da Silva was hard-pressed to keep his fledgling idea of a South American-Arab friendship together to reach any sort of agreement. When dealing in Middle East politics, "cooperation" extends about as far as one's willingness to condemn the U.S. and Israel. Despite the summit's focus on economic "bridge building," the final draft of the "Declaration of Brasilia" included mandatory expressions of concern over the war in Iraq, U.S. sanctions against Syria, and Israeli settlements. The only voice of moderation from the Arab end of the table seemed to come from newly elected Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who asked his neighbors to help combat terrorism.
2005-05-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive