Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty Between the States of theArab League

Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation TreatyBetween the States of the Arab League

(17 June 1950, 2 February 1951, and 16 February 1952)

The Governments of:
THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN
THE SYRIAN REPUBLIC
THE KINGDOM OF IRAQ
THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
THE LEBANESE REPUBLIC
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT
THE MOTAWAKILITE KINGDOM OF YEMEN

In view of the desire of the above-mentioned Governments to consolidaterelations between the States of the Arab League; to maintain their independenceand their mutual heritage; in accordance with the desire of their peoples, tocooperate for the realization of mutual defense and the maintenance of securityand peace according to the principles of both the Arab League Pact and theUnited Nations Charter, together with the . of the said Pacts; and toconsolidate stability and security and provide means of welfare and developmentin the countries.

The following government delegates of . . ., having been duly accredited andfully authorized by their respective governments, approve the following:

Article 1

The Contracting States, in an effort to maintain and stabilize peace andsecurity, hereby confirm their desire to settle their international disputes bypeaceful means, whether such disputes concern relations among themselves or withother Powers.

Article 2

The Contracting States consider any (act of) armed aggression made againstany one or more of them or their armed forces, to be directed against them all.Therefore, in accordance with the right of self-defense, individually andcollectively, they undertake to go without delay to the aid of the State orStates against which such an act of aggression is made, and immediately to take,individually and collectively, all steps available, including the use of armedforce, to repel the aggression and restore security and peace. In conformitywith Article 6 of the Arab League Pact and Article 51 of the United NationsCharter, the Arab League Council and U.N. Security Council shall be notified ofsuch act of aggression and the means and procedure taken to check it.

Article 3

At the invitation of any one of the signatories of this Treaty theContracting States shall hold consultations whenever there are reasonablegrounds for the belief that the territorial integrity, independence, or securityof any one of the parties is threatened. In the event of the threat of war orthe existence of an international emergency, the Contracting States shallimmediately proceed to unify their plans and defensive measures, as thesituation may demand.

Article 4

The Contracting States, desiring to implement fully the above obligations andeffectively carry them out, shall cooperate in consolidating and coordinatingtheir armed forces, and shall participate according to their resources and needsin preparing individual and collective means of defense to repulse the. saidarmed aggression.

Article 5

A Permanent Military Commission composed of representatives of the GeneralStaffs of the armies of the Contracting States shall be formed to draw up plansof joint defense and their implementation. The duties of the Permanent MilitaryCommission which are set forth in an Annex attached to this Treaty, include thedrafting of necessary reports on the method of cooperation and participationmentioned in Article 4. The Permanent Military Commission shall submit to thejoint Defense Council, provided hereunder in Article 6, reports dealing withquestions within its province.

Article 6

A Joint Defense Council under the supervision of the Arab League Councilshall be formed to deal with all matters concerning the implementation of theprovisions of Articles 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Treaty. It shall be assisted inthe performance of its task by the Permanent Military Commission referred to inArticle 5. The joint Defense Council shall consist of the Foreign Ministers andthe Defense Ministers of the Contracting States or their representatives.Decisions taken by a two-thirds majority shall be binding on all the ContractingStates.

Article 7

The Contracting States, in order to fulfill the aims of this Treaty, and tobring about security and prosperity in the Arab countries, and in an effort toraise the standard of living in them, undertake to cooperate in the developmentof their economics and the exploitation of their natural resources; tofacilitate the exchange of their respective agricultural and industrial products;and generally to organize and coordinate their economic activities and toconclude the necessary inter-Arab agreements to realize such aims.

Article 8

An Economic Council consisting of the Ministers in charge of economic affairs,or their representatives if necessary, shall be formed by the Contracting Statesto submit recommendations for the realization of all such ainls as are set forthin the previous article. The Council may, in the performance of its duties, seekthe cooperation of the Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs referred toin Article 4 of the Arab League Pact.

Article 9

The Annex to this Treaty shall be considered an integral and indivisible partof it.

Article 10

The Contracting States undertake to conclude no international agreementswhich may be contradictory to the provisions of this Treaty, nor to act, intheir international relations, in a way which may be contrary to the aims ofthis Treaty.

Article 11

No provision of this Treaty shall in any way affect, or is intended to affect,any of the rights or obligations devolving upon the Contracting States from theUnited Nations Charter or the responsibilities borne by the United NationsSecurity Council for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 12

After a lapse of 1 0 years from the date of the ratification of this Treaty,any one of the Contracting States may withdraw from it, providing 12 months'notice is previously given to the Secretariat-General of the Arab League. TheSecretariat-General of the League shall inform the other Contracting States ofsuch notice.

Article 13

This Treaty shall be ratified by each Contracting State according to theconstitutional procedure of its own government. The Treaty shall come into forcefor the ratifying States 15 days after the receipt by the Secretariat-General ofthe instruments of ratification from at least four States. This Treaty isdrafted in Arabic in Cairo on April 13, 1950. One signed copy shall be depositedwith the Secretariat-General of the Arab League; equally authentic copies shallbe transmitted to each of the Contracting States.

Military Annex

1. The Permanent Military Commission provided for in Article 5 of the jointDefense and Economic Cooperation Treaty between the States of the Arab League,shall undertake the following:

(a) in cooperation with the joint Defense Council, to prepare plans to deal with all anticipated dangers or armed aggression that may be launched against one or more of the Contracting States or their armed forces, such plans to be based on the principles determined by the joint Defense Council;

(b) to submit proposals for the organization of the forces of the Contracting States, stipulating the minimum force for each in accordance with military exigencies and the potentialities of each State;

(c) to submit proposals for increasing the effectiveness of the forces of the Contracting States in so far as their equipment, organization, and training are concerned; so that they may keep pace with modem military methods and development; and for the unification and coordination of all such forces;

(d) to submit proposals for the exploitation of natural, agricultural, industrial, and other resources of all Contracting States in favor of the inter-Arab military effort and joint defense;

(e) to organize the exchange of training missions between the Contracting States for the preparation of plans, participation in military exercises and maneuvers and the study of their results, recommendations for the improvement of methods to ensure close cooperation in the field, and for the general improvement of the forces of all the Contracting States;

(f) to prepare the necessary data on the resources and military potentialities of each of the Contracting States and the part to be played by the forces of each in the joint military effort;

(g) to discuss the facilities and various contributions which each of the Contracting States, in conformity with the provisions of this Treaty, might be asked to provide, during a state of war, on behalf of the armies of such other Contracting States as might be operating on its territory.

2. The Permanent Military Commission may form temporary or permanentsubcommittees from among its own members to deal with any of the matters fallingwithin its jurisdiction. It may also seek the advice of any experts whose viewson certain questions are deemed necessary.

3. The Permanent Military Commission shall submit detailed reports on theresults of its activities and studies to the joint Defense Council provided forin Article 6 of this Treaty, as well as an annual report giving full particularsof its work and studies during the year.

4. The Permanent Military Commission shall establish its headquarters inCairo but may hold meetings in any other place the Commission may specify. TheCommission shall elect its Chairman for two years; he may be reelected.Candidates for the Chairmanship shall hold at least the rank of a highcommanding officer. Each member of the Commission must have as his originalnationality that of the Contracting State he represents.

5. In the event of war, the supreme command of the joint forces shall beentrusted to the Contracting State possessing the largest military force takingactual part in field operations, unless, by unanimous agreement, theCommander-in-Chief is selected otherwise. The Commander-in-Chief shall beassisted in directing military operations by a joint Staff.

Source: Ed Haynes
http://haynese.winthrop.edu/mlas/DefEcoTr.html

Last revised 6 April 1998,