Yemen proposal to reform Arab League

CAIRO. Feb. 06 (Saba) - Yemen has put forward a
proposal for the establishment of an Arab Union as a replacement for the Arab League
that
would be discussed by Arab Foreign Ministers in an early March meeting as a prelude
to sending it to the Arab Leaders' Summit in late March.
The proposal was drafted in an initiative form to reform the Arab League.
In the initiative, Yemen suggested a draft constitution for the union that should
contain 37 articles based on principles such as respecting sovereignty and regional
borders
of countries, respecting the unity of a member state's national soil, the right of a
country to choose its ruling system, dis-recognizing taking office through force,
and
establishing an Arab security system to protect the member states and contribute to
boosting international peace and security, the Egyptian Al-Shorouk newspaper quoted
an
official at the Arab League as saying.
The initiative also identified a number of frameworks and organizational structures
of the union including a supreme council to comprise of kings, presidents and
princes
of the member states that should be responsible for decision-making, setting out
general policies, and approving recommendations and decisions sent by lower
councils.
The presidency of the council should be on year-rotation bases.
There should also be five ministerial councils including a defense and security
council with its members picked from Interior Ministries and Chiefs of Staffs of
member
states that would be responsible for drawing up joint defense plans, forming a joint
peacekeeper force and unifying training and armament systems of them as well as
boosting
security coordination among them.
Yemen also suggested in its initiative to set up an Arab Justice Court that does
its duties according to a basic system approved by the union and a jury to be
responsible
for resolving commercial disputes through arbitration.
The initiative also calls for an Arab central bank and an Arab development bank to
finance developmental projects and achieve a common market for Arab economic
integration.
A technical and administrative council was suggested as well.
The union would replace the Arab League once its constitution is approved and the
league's secretariat general will run it during a year-long transitional period in
which
the Foreign Minister Council of the league will have completed the components of the
union according to the constitution.
FR