Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union project makes its debut

(PARIS) - Leaders from some 40 countries -- rich and poor, foes and friends -- meet in Paris on Sunday to launch the Union for the Mediterranean, a flagship project of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But the new forum for cooperation is already facing opposition from Libyan President Moamer Kadhafi who is boycotting the summit while Turkey and Germany have deep misgivings.

The grouping will see the 27 countries from the European Union join states in north Africa and the Middle East, bringing leaders from Israel, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority to the same table despite their unresolved peace issues.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is making a much-awaited appearance although he has quashed speculation of a historic meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the sidelines of the summit.

While the idea of a Mediterranean grouping is decades old, it was championed by Sarkozy during his 2007 presidential campaign to provide a linchpin between North and South, Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Jews and Christians.

"Building the Union for the Mediterranean," Sarkozy said in a speech in Tangiers in October, "is not only crucial for the future of Mediterranean rim nations, but for all of humanity."

"For it is the Mediterranean region that will determine whether North will clash with South, whether terrorism and fundamentalism will succeed in imposing its brand of violence and intolerance on the rest of the world."

"It is where everything will be won or lost."

Initially, membership was to be have been extended exclusively to countries of the Mediterranean rim, but under pressure from Germany which feared it could cause a rift within Europe, it was opened up to all EU states.

Building on the EU's 13-year-old Barcelona process, the Union for the Mediterranean will bring together 43 countries plus the Palestinian Authority with a combined population of 765 million people.

Among its leading critics, Kadhafi has assailed the club as as a neo-colonialist ploy to weaken Arab and African unity and warned it would be a flop.

"This project is doomed to fail. It will fuel terrorist acts from Islamist groups who consider it a new crusade project and will attack Muslim member states," Kadhafi said in Tripoli on Wednesday.

Another no-show is Jordan's King Abdullah who is sending a representative while Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to attend despite concerns that the grouping will undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Spain, which had shepherded the Barcelona process between the EU and the Mediterranean region since 1995, also felt slighted after Sarkozy began touting the project as his own.

Arab countries have warned the forum should not be a substitute for negotiations with Israel on the terms for normalising relations.

Against this backdrop of hostilities, French organisers are sticking to a minimalist agenda during the three-hour summit to be held at the Grand Palais, the glass-domed hall that was built for the Paris Exhibition in 1900.

Key issues like immigration, the Middle East peace process or fair trade rules will not be tackled, making way for discussion on fighting pollution, developing solar energy and improving Mediterranean shipping routes.

"The leaders may be coming, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are ready to take part in a collective project," said Dorothee Schmid, a researcher on European and Mediterranean issues at the French Institute of International Relations.

Schmid described the summit as a showcase of French diplomacy, highlighting France's strong bilateral connections that were successfully used to convince many leaders to attend the summit.

"I don't expect anything substantial to come out of it," she said.

Leaders are expected to approve the workings of the new grouping, which is to hold summits every two years and establish permanent offices.

The Mediterranean summit is providing an opportunity for some high-powered bilateral meetings including between Sarkozy and Assad on Saturday, confirming a French shift toward Damascus after Jacques Chirac broke off high-level contacts.

Assad is also to meet Lebanese President Michel Sleiman for the first time since his election, and Olmert is to sit down with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to try to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Sommet de Paris pour la Méditerranée