A special session of the Arab League's Arab Ministerial Council for Water ended on Friday with a decision to postpone the implementation of the Arab strategy for water security. This was due to the number of nations who were unexpectedly absent. The meeting to finalize the strategic plan was rescheduled for 10 December 2010.
Engineer Mohammed al-Najjar, Jordanian minister of water and irrigation and president of the Council, said in a press statement following the meeting that the delay was due to the absence of some Arab countries. He noted in particular the absence of Saudi Arabia, who had made contributions to the draft of the strategy. He said that recent developments in the field had also contributed to the decision to postpone the implementation.
He added, “The Arab Nations prefer that the final wording for the Arab water strategy should be final and complete, and that the strategy should be adopted before the second Arab Economic Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on 19 January 2011.”
Al-Najjar explained that the Scientific Advisory Council Technical Committee for the Council will hold a meeting to review the strategy in light of the comments put forward by various states, and to send the agreement in its final form to the Arab countries for approval and adoption.
Translated from Arabic Edition
