Arab League

The eighteenth ordinary session of the Council of the Arab League was held in Cairo, March 28 to April 9, 1953. The League members were, in general, represented by the heads of their diplomatic missions in Cairo although the Egyptian government was understood to have requested that each state send its foreign minister. Although the recommendations of the Council were not made public, they were understood to have covered such questions as west Germany's ratification of the reparations agreement with Israel, the economic boycott of Israel and the forthcoming visit of the Secretary of State of the United States (Dulles). At the close of the meeting, the assistant Secretary-General (Ahmed Shukairy) said that the question of the dispute between the United Kingdom and Egypt over the Suez canal zone had been discussed in the course of a general survey of political problems but that it had not been raised specifically. During the Council session a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League states was called for April 3; however, the governments of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon declined to attend. There were some reports that their refusal stemmed from a disinclination to become involved in any disagreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom; however, officials in Lebanon denied the accuracy of the reports, saying that the meeting had been postponed because its principal purpose had been to consider political problems of the Arab world in the light of a report which the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Prince Faisal) was to make upon his return from the United States and Prince Faisal had not returned in time to hold the meeting as scheduled.