Arab nations to sign anti-terrorism pact
Copyright 1998 Nando.net
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt (April 20, 1998 1:25 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) --
After years of debate, Arab countries have agreed to cooperate to fight
terrorism, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported Monday.
The agreement would exclude attacks on Israel from its definition of
terrorist acts.
The pact is to be signed at a meeting of interior and justice ministers
from the 22-member Arab League in Cairo on Wednesday.
The news agency quoted a report issued Monday by a committee of the
ministers, which said the pact has been accepted by all Arab countries.
Egypt and Algeria, which are battling fundamentalist movements, have
been lobbying for an agreement on terrorism for two years.
The pact calls on Arab countries to deny financial support to groups
that launch attacks on other nations in the region and to exchange
information on terrorist groups. It outlines cooperation for the
investigation and arrest of suspected extremists and establishes
guidelines for their extradition.
The report accused Israel of being a terrorist state and said the pact
specifically exempts militant acts against the Jewish state.
The Arabs have long accused the Jews of illegally taking Palestinian
land 50 years ago to create the state of Israel and of continuing to
suppress Palestinian efforts to obtain rights.
The agreement also states that any attacks against ruling regimes in the
Arab world or the families of the rulers should be treated as criminal
attacks and not politically motivated attacks.
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