A GOOD PIECE
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Apr 23, 2011 (IPS) - As the Cairo-based Arab League continues to back western military intervention in support of the popular rebellion in Libya, the League's failure to back similar uprisings in other Arab countries - most notably Bahrain - has led to charges of double standards.....
According to Egyptian political observers, the Arab League's conflicting positions are largely explained by Saudi Arabia's longstanding influence over the pan-Arab organisation.
"States of the Saudi-led GCC finance most of the Arab League's activities," Abdelhalim Kandil, political analyst and editor-in-chief of independent weekly Al-Sout Al-Umma told IPS. "Therefore, the league is subject to disproportionate Saudi influence.
"The Saudi regime, fearing for its own stability, has consistently opposed the Arab uprisings," he added. "Riyadh hosted Tunisia's Ben Ali after his ouster; pressured Egypt's transitional government not to prosecute Mubarak; continues to support President Ali Abdullah Sallah in Yemen; and, most flagrantly, sent troops to support the Bahraini monarchy."......
According to Kandil, Saudi Arabia has played a chief role in turning the Arab League in recent years into a "bastion of U.S. influence" lacking any "effective or constructive" role in the region.
"Washington's Arab allies, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, had long used the League to legitimise U.S. policy in the Middle East," he said. "As was the case with the 2003 U.S.-led war on Iraq, the west used Saudi's leading role in the League to obtain a resolution allowing it to use military force against Libya."........
But in light of rapidly unfolding political realities, Kandil believes this influence to be waning.
"In the past, regional policies were largely determined by an axis consisting of the U.S. and Israel on one hand, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia on the other, with the former two using the latter two to implement their policies," he said. "But in the revolutionary atmosphere now pervading the Arab world, this era appears to be coming to a close." "
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Apr 23, 2011 (IPS) - As the Cairo-based Arab League continues to back western military intervention in support of the popular rebellion in Libya, the League's failure to back similar uprisings in other Arab countries - most notably Bahrain - has led to charges of double standards.....
According to Egyptian political observers, the Arab League's conflicting positions are largely explained by Saudi Arabia's longstanding influence over the pan-Arab organisation.
"States of the Saudi-led GCC finance most of the Arab League's activities," Abdelhalim Kandil, political analyst and editor-in-chief of independent weekly Al-Sout Al-Umma told IPS. "Therefore, the league is subject to disproportionate Saudi influence.
"The Saudi regime, fearing for its own stability, has consistently opposed the Arab uprisings," he added. "Riyadh hosted Tunisia's Ben Ali after his ouster; pressured Egypt's transitional government not to prosecute Mubarak; continues to support President Ali Abdullah Sallah in Yemen; and, most flagrantly, sent troops to support the Bahraini monarchy."......
According to Kandil, Saudi Arabia has played a chief role in turning the Arab League in recent years into a "bastion of U.S. influence" lacking any "effective or constructive" role in the region.
"Washington's Arab allies, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, had long used the League to legitimise U.S. policy in the Middle East," he said. "As was the case with the 2003 U.S.-led war on Iraq, the west used Saudi's leading role in the League to obtain a resolution allowing it to use military force against Libya."........
But in light of rapidly unfolding political realities, Kandil believes this influence to be waning.
"In the past, regional policies were largely determined by an axis consisting of the U.S. and Israel on one hand, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia on the other, with the former two using the latter two to implement their policies," he said. "But in the revolutionary atmosphere now pervading the Arab world, this era appears to be coming to a close." "
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