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League of Arab States
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The League of Arab States, headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, was
established on 22 October 1945 with seven independent Arab States. It now has
22 members from South West Asia, North and North West Africa: Algeria, Bahrain,
Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine (which is a Permanent Observer to the United Nations),
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and
Yemen. The League aims to strengthen relations between its Member States, to
promote collaboration between them and to safeguard their interests. The League
of Arab States works in a wide range of issue areas, from coordination of
policy positions to economic integration to measures supporting literacy and
the Arabic language and cultural heritage.
The supreme policy-planning and decision-making body is the Council
of the League, while the General Secretariat, its subsidiary organs and
specialized agencies serve as the executive, technical and administrative wings
of the entire set-up of the League. The League Council convenes at three
levels: namely the level of Heads of State, the level of Foreign Ministers and
the level of Permanent Delegates to the League.
Since Arab States established a Common Position at the 2001 UN
Conference on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons, they have been
working at the national and regional level to further the implementation of the
UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN PoA).
The Council of Arab Interior Ministers considered the issue early
on in the framework of the Arab Strategy for Combating Terrorism and the Arab
Convention for Combating Terrorism and adopted the Arab Model Law on Weapons,
Ammunitions, Explosives and Hazardous Material in Tunisia in January 2002.
The Cairo Conference on the implementation by Arab States of the UN
PoA, convened in 2003, represented a milestone in relations between the League
of Arab States and the United Nations and emphasised the need for cooperation
between Arab States and their relevant partners, both governmental and
non-governmental. Discussions on a thematic basis highlighted national capacity
building, including border controls, legislation and resources and expertise,
regional cooperation and assistance and disarmament, reconstruction and
reconciliation.
As well as designating National Focal Points and beginning to
develop tools for national reporting and national coordination, the League of
Arab States named the General Secretariat of the League as the Regional Focal
Point for Small Arms and charged it with providing technical assistance to
States wishing to prepare their National Reports, set up National Coordination
Agencies or establish Focal Points with regional and international bodies and
organizations. The Regional Focal Point was formally established in October
2004 with financial assistance from Germany and Switzerland.
The Regional Focal Point held the First meeting of Arab National
Focal Points in December 2005, at which 17 Arab States were represented. The
meeting discussed and endorsed the Arab Model Law, mentioned above as well as
the wider framework of small arms action, particularly the UN PoA. Other issues
discussed included monitoring borders, the importance of national reporting,
the role of security agencies involvement of the Arab media and cooperation
with civil society. The recommendations of the Meeting were later included in
Resolution No. 6625 on Arab Coordination for Combating the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons, mandated the Regional Focal Point to hold a
meeting for the Arab National Focal Points at least once a year and encouraged
States both to submit national reports on achievements over the past 5 years
and laws and regulations on small arms to allow the development of a regional
database to share expertise. In addition, Arab States were asked to prepare
national reports on the implementation of the UN PoA and to submit both to the
United Nations and to the Regional Focal Point, to allow for the continued
coordination of Arab States at UN meetings and conferences.
The overall aim of these measures is to coordinate and share the
experiences of Arab States, allow the assessment of regional and international
relevant developments in the field of small arms and to examine the best ways
to tackle the illicit trade in small arms in light weapons in the region.
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Statement of the League of Arab States before the UN
Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the UN PoA
(pdf) 
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LAS statements from the 2006 PrepCom (pdf)
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| Resolution No. 6625 on Arab Coordination for
Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (pdf)
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Report of the First Meeting of Arab National Focal Points on Small Arms and
Light Weapons 26-27 December 2005 (pdf)
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Resolution No. 6447 of the Arab League Council at the
Ministerial Level (Ordinary Session 122) held on 14/9/2004 on Combating Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (pdf)
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Co-Chairs’ Summary of the Conference on the
Implementation, by the Arab States, of the UN Programme of Action on the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, Cairo, Egypt, 16-18 December
2003 (pdf)
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Statement of the League of Arab States at the Second Biennial Meeting of States
(pdf)
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Statement of the League of Arab States at the First
biennial Meeting on the implementation of the Programme of Action of Prevent,
Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All
Its Aspects
(no pdf available on website)
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Arab Model Law on Weapons, Ammunitions, Explosives and Hazardous Material, 2002
(unofficial translation)
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Draft Proposals on Revised Draft Programme of Action
A/CONF/192/PC/L.4/REV.1
Statement by Qatar on behalf of the Arab Group to the United Nations Conference
on the Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, July 2001 (pdf)
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The First Meeting of Arab National Focal Points on
Small Arms and Light Weapons, Cairo, Egypt,
26-27 December 2005
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Conference on the Implementation, by the Arab States, of the UN
Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons,
Cairo, Egypt,
16-18 December 2003
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Member
countries:
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Algeria
Bahrain
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
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