SHEIKH, Egypt: The head of the Arab League called Monday on rich Arab countries to extend a helping hand to their needy brothers as the turmoil in Tunisia cast a shadow over the Arab economic summit due to open in Egypt later this week. The summit was meant to be a platform to discuss trade, business and investment, but officials say the Tunisian events will now top the conference's agenda. In a speech to delegates in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, League Secretary General Amr Moussa urged rich Arab countries to help their poorer brothers. “The less developed countries need help to build their economies and promote development,” he said. Addressing a news conference Monday, Moussa said economic and political reform in the Arab world should go together. “Democracy and development should go hand in hand. Otherwise there will be no progress in the region. It is not sufficient to talk about economy alone,” he said. “We have to follow closely what is happening in Tunisia. And we hope that the people there will end up by building the system they want. And of course, there is a lesson and there is a message from what happened in Tunisia,” Moussa added. Tunisian Foreign Minister Kamal Merjan spoke for two hours in Sharm El-Sheikh to his Arab counterparts and assured them that the new government was in “full control” of the country, said a diplomat who was present for the meeting. Merjan assured the Arab ministers that new elections would be held in the next 45 to 60 days and international monitors would be allowed to observe them, added the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Speaking at a news conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid urged Arab governments to address economic hardships faced by their people. “Events in Tunisia underscore (the need) to jointly work to combat poverty and unemployment in Arab countries because part of the problems behind the events were economic,” he said. But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit ruled out the possibility that Tunisia's political uprising will spread to other Arab countries, including Egypt. “This is pure nonsense,” he told reporters in Sharm El-Sheikh. “Those who are promoting fantasies and trying to ignite the situation will not achieve their goals and will only harm themselves,” he warned. “But if the summit chooses to address the Tunisian issue, it will,” he said. “Overall, the will of the Tunisian people is the most important element in this regard.” In the Sultanate of Oman, where social unrest is almost totally unheard of, around 2,000 people demonstrated near government ministries Monday calling for higher wages and lower prices for food. On Sunday, Syria sharply increased subsidies for energy. In neighboring Jordan, the state announced a $125 million package of new subsidies for fuel and staple products like sugar following street protests this week.
