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BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - South American and
Arab leaders criticized the world's rich countries
and Israel and gave support to the Palestinians on
Tuesday at a summit originally intended to promote
stronger business links between the two regions.
"This is a brave meeting with ambitious objectives.
We want to take concrete steps in the fight for
development and social justice," Brazilian President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at the opening
ceremony, where princes and emirs in Arab robes and
headgear gathered in a convention center in Brazil's
futuristic capital.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, on his first
overseas trip since Iraq held elections, urged the
participants to help his country's reconstruction
with investment and recognition.
Both sides, however, clearly had different
priorities.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said that
while he supported trade between developing nations
it was in the political world that true cooperation
would be gained.
"We must call upon the entire international
community to find a final resolution (to the
Palestinian issue), a solution that is definitive,
so that everyone will do their best so that Israel
will submit itself to international law and accept a
negotiated peace," Bouteflika said to cheers from
delegates.
Lula wants summit participants to identify business
opportunities that will open up new relationships
between poorer regions long dominated by the world's
most powerful economies.
He used the occasion to reiterate his criticism of
the world trade order and subsidies by the rich
countries.
"Our great challenge is to design a new
international trade and economic geography," said
Lula, who proposed this summit after a Middle East
tour in 2003 as part of a drive by Brazil, the
world's fourth-largest democracy, to establish
itself as a diplomatic force and a voice for the
developing world.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seized the chance
to rail against the United States and "the
capitalist voracity."
"Some call us countries on the path to development,
others undeveloped. I choose to say developed,
exploited, dominated," he said in his address.
In a concrete achievement, the Mercosur trade bloc
linking Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay
signed an accord to begin talks on a free trade pact
with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Brazil
has said it intends to double its trade with the
Arab world to $15 billion over the next three years.
POLITICS THE OVERRIDING THEME?
But the Arabs were focused on securing political
support for the Palestinians and censure of Israel.
The final summit declaration will condemn terrorism
but will also support the rights of people to resist
occupation.
Washington and the Israelis have expressed concern,
believing this could offer support to anti-Israeli
militant groups such as Hizbollah, whom they deem
terrorists.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked South
American countries for "always having been on the
just side of the Palestinian question." He asked all
participants to work to give a new push to the peace
process.
In his speech, Talabani, a Kurd, said Iraq was a
rich and strong country which would lift itself up
quickly.
"We came to this summit asking also for a
condemnation of terrorism and these savage terrorist
acts that are committed against the Iraqi people,"
he said. "We are suffering from some problems but we
are decided and we are sure of victory."
"We hope that this summit helps our people in their
just fight," he said.
A huge security operation has been mounted in
Brasilia, causing traffic chaos in this city, built
from scratch in the middle of the savanna in the
late 1950s.
More than 9,000 troops and police have been deployed
to guard against any terrorist attack. Light tanks
were positioned along the roads and the convention
center was surrounded by barbed wire with military
helicopters flying overhead.
Reuters
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