Brazil organizes Summit of South American and Arab Countries



Brazil's capital city of Brasilia is scheduled to host the Summit of South American and Arab Countries from May 10 to the 11th, according to the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations. The organizers say that South American and Arab Countries will discuss political, commercial, cultural, and scientific and technological cooperation.

The summit was proposed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his visit to several Arab countries in December, 2004. This was the first time some of the countries visited by Lula had entered into contact with a Brazilian ruler since 1876 with then Brazilian Emperor, Dom Pedro II.

During a visit to the headquarters of the Arab League, in Cairo, Egypt, Lula da Silva proposed the creation of a Summit of South American and Arab Countries. "The summit aims the creation of a new world where the Third World countries can have a new role", Lula added.

The countries scheduled to meet next month are:
 * from South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Some concerns from Israel and the United States have been raised since the announcement of the meeting. However the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, said that the meeting is intended as a forum to discuss only cooperation between the two regions and it is not a political attack on Israel. "It is a meeting of two regions, which will discuss mutual cooperation", he says.
 * from the Arab world: Algeria, Bahrein, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.