Arab League

The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية), is an organization of Arab states. It is similar to the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, or the former Organization for African Unity (now African Union), in that its aims are primarily political; all of these organizations can be considered to be regional versions of the United Nations.

It is quite dissimilar from some other organizations such as the European Union, because it has not achieved any significant degree of regional integration and the organization itself has no direct relations with the citizens of its member states. Instead, the League's charter states that the League shall coordinate economic affairs, including commercial relations; communications; cultural affairs; nationality, passports, and visas; social affairs; and health affairs. The permanent headquarters of the League are located in Cairo, Egypt.

The Charter of the Arab League also forbids member states from resorting to force against each other.

The Arab League was formed on March 22, 1945 by seven states. Its main goals are defined as:

Serve the common good of all Arab countries, ensure better conditions for all Arab countries, guarantee the future of all Arab countries and fulfill the hopes and expectations of all Arab countries.

Contents

Member Nations

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Member states of the Arab League

The current members of the Arab League (and the date of their admission):

Template:EGY - March 22, 1945 (Founder) (suspended, 1979-1989)
Template:IRQ - March 22, 1945 (Founder)
Template:JOR - March 22, 1945 (Founder) (entered when still using the name Transjordan)
Template:LEB - March 22, 1945 (Founder)
Template:SAU - March 22, 1945 (Founder)
Template:SYR - March 22, 1945 (Founder)
Template:YEM - May 5, 1945 (Founder)
Template:LBA - March 28, 1953
Template:SUD - January 19, 1956
Template:MAR - October 1, 1958
Template:TUN - October 1, 1958
Template:KUW - July 20, 1961
Template:ALG - August 16, 1962
Template:UAE-List - June 12, 1971
Template:BHR - September 11, 1971
Template:QAT - September 11, 1971
Template:OMA - September 29, 1971
Template:MTN - November 26, 1973
Template:SOM - February 14, 1974
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Palestine

Palestine - September 9, 1976 (represented by the PLO)
Template:DJI - April 9, 1977
Template:COM - November 20, 1993

Leadership

**Secretaries-General of the Arab League**
Name	Nationality	Appointed	Left Office
Abdul Razek Azzam	Egypt	1945	1952
Abdul Khlek Hassouna	Egypt	1952	1972
Mahmoud Riyadh	Egypt	1972	1979
Chedi Klibi	Tunisia	1979	1990
Dr. Ahmad Esmat Abd al Meguid	Egypt	1991	2001
Amr Moussa	Egypt	2001	present

Timeline

1942 - The United Kingdom promotes the idea of the Arab League in an attempt to win over Arabs as allies in war against Germany.
1944 - Official representatives from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, North Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan (Jordan and Palestine) meet in Alexandria, Egypt and agree to form the League of Arab States.
1945 - Arab states sign the Arab League Pact, formally inaugurating the League.
1945 - Arab league member states declare a boycott of Jewish businesses in Palestine, this is continued after the establishment of Israel as the Arab League boycott.
1946 - Arab League members sign the Cultural Treaty.
1947 - Arab League members declare war on Israel and ultimately lose at a cost of 5,000 to 15,000 lives.
1950 - League members sign the Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty.
1953 - The Economic and Social Council is formed; Libya joins the Arab League.
1956 - Sudan joins the Arab League.
1958 - Morocco and Tunisia join the Arab League; the League is recognized by the United Nations and becomes the UN's organisation for education, science and culture in the Arab region.
1961 - Kuwait joins the Arab League.
1962 - Algeria joins the Arab League.
1964 - The first summit convenes in Cairo; the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO) is formed; a second league summit that autumn welcomes the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
1967 - South Yemen joins the Arab League.
1971 - Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates join the Arab League.
1973 - Mauritania joins the Arab League.
1974 - Somalia and Palestine (represented by the PLO) join the Arab League.
1976 - Arab League summit in Cairo authorises the formation and deployment of an Arab peacekeeping force, mainly Syrian, in Lebanon.
1977 - Djibouti joins the Arab League.
1979 - Egypt is suspended from the Arab League in the wake of President Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem and Egypt's peace agreement with Israel; the Arab League headquarters are moved to Tunis.
1987 - The Arab League unanimously endorses a statement on Iraq's defense of its legitimate rights in its dispute with Iran.
1989 - Egypt is readmitted into the Arab League; the League's headquarters returns to Cairo.
1990 (May) - A summit meeting in Baghdad criticizes Western efforts to prevent Iraq from developing advanced weapons technology.
1990 (August) - At emergency summit, 12 out of 20 states present condemn the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait; unified Yemen joins the Arab League.
1993 - Comoros joins the Arab League.
1994 - The Arab League is condemned in a decision by the Gulf Cooperation Council to end the secondary and tertiary trade embargo against Israel and insists that the embargo could be lifted only by the League's council.
1996 - The Arab League Council determines that the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers be shared equitably between Iraq, Syria and Turkey. This follows complaints by Syria and Iraq that extensive construction work in southern Turkey was restricting their water supply.
1998 - The Arab League secretary-general condemns the use or threat of force against Iraq; Arab League interior and justice ministers signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation against terrorism; the Arab League denounces bomb attacks against US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and US missile strikes against Afghanistan and Sudan.
2002 - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi announces Libya's intention to withdraw from the League, because of "Arab incapacity" in resolving the crises between the United States and Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Libya does not formally withdraw from the League.)
2003 - The League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of US and British soldiers from Iraq. (The lone dissenting vote was cast by Kuwait).

External links

Template:Wikisourcepar Template:Commons

Arab League (http://www.arableagueonline.org/arableague/index_en.jsp) official site
Arab Gateway - The Arab League (http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/league.htm) summits and documents
Directories
- LookSmart - League of Arab States (http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317916/us62071/us62080/us10051280/)
- Open Directory Project - Arab League (http://dmoz.org/Society/Government/Multilateral/Regional/Arab_League/)
- Yahoo! - League of Arab States (http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Regions/Middle_East/Government/Politics/Organizations/League_of_Arab_States/)

Arab League
Algeria \| Bahrain \| Comoros \| Djibouti \| Egypt \| Iraq \| Jordan \| Kuwait \| Lebanon \| Libya \| Mauritania \| Morocco \| Oman \| State of Palestine \| Qatar \| Saudi Arabia \| Somalia \| Sudan \| Syria \| Tunisia \| United Arab Emirates \| Yemen