Arab and Latin states seek joint G20 front

South American and Arab leaders on Tuesday staged their second summit in four years in the Qatari capital, Doha, aiming to forge a common alliance and confront the global financial crisis on the eve of the G20 summit in London.

"We must learn from the errors that have occurred in past crises and show... our citizens that the South American and Arab nations are walking together," Chilean President Michelle Bachelet told the gathering.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva noted that the Doha summit came two days before the London G20 summit which is due to "confront an unprecedented economic crisis.

"The world will follow carefully to see if South America and the Arab countries are capable of taking measures to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a social and political earthquake,” he said.

Da Silva insisted that the Doha gathering provided leaders with "an extraordinary opportunity" to endorse proposals for reform, namely “the reform of international organizations."

"This is the only way for countries that have contributed the most to the financial crisis, the deterioration of the environment, trade imbalance and collective insecurity to assume their responsibilities," he said.

South America and the Arab region are geographically far apart, but each contains a major oil producer, with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia among the world's top exporters.

The two parties sought to bolster their economic ties, buoyed by the fact that trade between them has almost tripled to around 18 billion dollars since their first summit in Brasilia in 2005.

Saudi Arabia is the only Arab nation that will join emerging countries at the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 most industrialized and developing nations, which will also be attended by Brazil and Argentina.

The G20 summit is aimed at pulling the world economy out of its worst downturn in decades and rewriting the financial rulebooks.

The world will follow carefully to see if South America and the Arab countries are capable of taking measures to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a social and political earthquake

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Political alliance

Leaders hope to make progress towards forming not only an economic partnership but also a political alliance in global institutions, diplomats said.

Regional issues, such as deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the international arrest warrant facing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur, were also raised by South American leaders.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that international prosecutors should indict former U.S. President George W. Bush for crimes in Iraq rather than Sudanese President Bashir over Darfur.

"The recent indictment against the Sudanese president Bashir is one of these ridiculous cases. It's a farce," President Hugo Chavez said at a summit of Arab and South American countries in Qatar.

"So why doesn't the international court indict President Bush, who committed atrocities over eight years, for example, and annihilated the Iraqi people?" he added.

Chavez made the comments in a speech that attacked Israel over its attack on the Palestinian territory of Gaza in January and tried to ridicule Israel's argument that its military offensives against Palestinians are in self-defense.

He praised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, among the few Arab leaders who stayed behind after Monday's Arab summit to attend the second meeting of Arab and South American leaders.

So why doesn't the international court indict President Bush, who committed atrocities over eight years

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez