DATE=3/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LEBANON/ARAB LEAGUE (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260091
BYLINE=ED YURANIAN
DATELINE=BEIRUT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Twenty-two Arab League foreign ministers have
ended their one-day meeting in Beirut Saturday as a
gesture of solidarity with Lebanon. Although there
was tough talk against Israel, the final communique
did not produce any concrete action that could
compromise peace negotiations with the Jewish state.
Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.
TEXT: One Arab foreign minister after another leveled
criticism against Israel for attacking Lebanese
territory.
Israeli planes destroyed several electric power
substations in Beirut last month, leaving the
capital's power grid in shambles.
Omani Foreign Minister Youssef ben Alawi ben Abdullah,
who presided over the summit, said that "those who
play with fire will be the first to be burned by it."
Lebanese Prime Minister Selim al Hoss asked Arab
states to reconsider their normalization with Israel
if the Jewish state continued -- in his words -"its
aggressions against Lebanon."
Israeli planes could be heard flying over the Lebanese
capital in the hours leading up to the conference
opening.
Syria's Foreign Minister Farouk al Sharah, whose
country is the main power broker in Lebanon, declared
that Israel could no longer continue "isolating" the
country. He said "all the Arabs support the Lebanese
resistance" to Israel's occupation of parts of
southern Lebanon.
Both Syria and Lebanon have reacted negatively to an
Israeli cabinet decision last Sunday to withdraw
unilaterally from southern Lebanon by July.
Speakers (at the Arab League meeting) called on Israel
to withdraw from all occupied Arab territories before
peace could be achieved.
Talks between Israel, Syria and Lebanon broke down in
January. (Signed)
NEB/EY/DW/PT
11-Mar-2000 16:08 PM EDT (11-Mar-2000 2108 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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