Arab Summit: UAE Vice-President Travels To Algiers To Attend

The Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum arrived on Tuesday in Algiers for attending the 31st Arab Summit. He is leading the UAE delegation to the two-day Summit, which has convened after 2 years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of Algeria, and chair of the current Arab Summit was seen welcoming Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and his delegation at the venue. 

UAE Vice-President Arrives In Algiers To Attend Arab Summit

Sheikh Mohammed took to Twitter to share the news of his arrival and intentions with his foreign policy. He tweeted “Today, I participated in the Arab summit meetings in Algeria. The islands of one and a half million martyrs, and brave and proud people. Our stances over the past 50 years have been consistent in support of Arab issues and will remain. Consolidating our joint Arab action will remain a major goal in our foreign policy,”.

The commencement of the Summit was officiated with an address by Tunisian President Kais Saied, Chair of the 2019 Arab Summit, in which he talked about the many issues facing the Arab world caused by the pandemic. He called for all Arab nations to work together to overcome these challenges.

The Chair of this year’s Summit was the President of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who extended similar messages in his address where he said the Arab world has the resources and capabilities to be a major global economic power and that collective effort by the regional nations will help make a positive impact on the lives of people.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also arrived in Algiers to attend the Summit as a guest.

Political issues are still prevalent among the 21 Arab league member nations. Many states are split over issues including the support for the Palestinian cause, the regional issues of Iran and Turkey, and the rehabilitation of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president.

The hosting nation Algeria is also amidst its own quarrels with its main regional rival Morocco over the Polisario movement. Algeria backs the Polisario Front independence movement for the disputed territory. They also announced in 2020, the resumption of its armed struggle against Morocco. 

This has led to the deterioration of relations between Algeria and Morocco. Algiers suspended diplomatic relations between the two nations and in effect denied renewing a gas supply deal and closed its airspace to Moroccan planes.

Algeria was mostly uninvolved in Arab affairs following the mass protests that led to the ousting of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The country hosting the 31st Arab Summit is widely seen as reinstating itself in international diplomatic relations. 

“The summit shows that Algeria is back in international affairs after years of isolation due to Bouteflika’s illness, the protest movement, COVID-19, and the financial crisis,” said one former government minister of the country.

In the previous month, Algiers opened discussions with Palestinian factions in an effort to conclude years of internal conflicts. 

Earlier this year, Algeria tried to persuade other Arab states to end Syria’s suspension from membership in the League which was announced after the civil war ensued in the state following al-Assad’s aggressive actions against protesters. The Arab League, however, refused this notion as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Arab states had backed the Sunni Muslim rebels fighting al-Assad.

Since the Arab summit in 2019, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan have tried to re-establish ties with Isreal. Palestinians feel gravely betrayed by this move and some officials have criticized them for not including any concrete moves toward the development of Palestine. 

The presidents of Egypt and Tunisia and Kuwait and Qatari monarchs are some of the leaders whom the Arab League says will attend the summit in Algiers. 

The capital city has been in preparation for hosting the event which includes newly planted trees hoisting Arab Flags along the highway of the recently built conference center where the summit will take place.