Segunda Edición - Mayo 21 del 2014 1 | Page 5

5 {the sandstorm rages} POR: CAMILO GONZÁLEZ - ARAB LEAGUE The second day of the debate was no different from the previous one; there was tension present in the room, seen mostly towards the end of the debate. Although at first, the delegates seemed to be calm, the situation began to worsen. Today's session started with a moderated caucus that lasted for over an hour, during this caucus, the delegated formed 2 separate groups in which they discussed topics regarding the working papers. In the first working paper, signed by the delegations of Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Mauritania and Lebanon, its members considered suspending Syria from the Arab league due to the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians, the corruption of its government and the use of deadly chemical weapons on innocent people, they condemned direct military action on Syrian territory and encouraged further dialogue between members of the Arab league, they stated that if none of these solutions were kept in mind, the Arab league would have to come to an end; with a total of 9 votes in favor, 8 against and several emendations, this working paper passed. Right after this, it was the turn of the second and final working paper; this working paper was led by the delegations of Jordan and Morocco, and sponsored by the delegations of Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and Algeria; in this working paper, its members refused the act of expelling Syria from the Arab league, encouraged Syria to accept help from neighboring countries and pointed out the country of United States of America as a possible threat to the region that should be punished by the Security Council; despite their efforts, this paper failed after the final result was 8 votes in favor and 9 against. Due to the victory of the first working paper, the delegate of Jordan stormed out of the room in indignation after several delegations such as United Arab Emirates, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia considered the United States as the one and only solution for the Syrian crisis, he even said that the United States wanted to drop an atomic bomb that would affect every country in the vicinity; Algeria and Morocco sided with Jordan against the USA. Will the conflict with the United States make things in the Arab league way more difficult than what they already are?