Summary
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva is learning what it's like to deal in Middle East politics. At this week's Summit of South American-Arab Countries held in Brasilia, Mr. da Silva was hard- pressed to keep his fledgling idea of a South American-Arab friendship together to reach any sort of agreement - economic, political or otherwise. At the beginning of the summit, which was comprised of 34 South American and Arab nations, the president expressed optimism: "We are facing an opportunity to build the foundation for a bridge of solid cooperation." Of course, this being Middle East politics, "cooperation" extends about as far as one's willingness to condemn the United States and Israel.
And to be sure, there was plenty of that to go around. 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.See the full content of this document
Extract
Mideast Politics in the Americas
Mr. da Silva's Brazil is extending its influence into the snakepit of world ...
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