SYRIA: Arab leaders arrive in Syria ahead of summit while many others stay away

Record ID: 279260

  • Title: SYRIA: Arab leaders arrive in Syria ahead of summit while many others stay away
  • Date: 29th March 2008
  • Summary: (W3) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MARCH 28, 2008) (REUTERS) PLANE CARRYING PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS ARRIVING AT DAMASCUS AIRPORT SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD WALKING ALONGSIDE ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF AMR MOUSSA AND SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER FAROUK AL-SHARAA FLAGS OF ARAB LEAGUE COUNTRIES ASSAD WALKING ON RED CARPET ON RUNWAY PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS WALKING DOWN PLAN
  • Embargoed: 13th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ANI5GUBL2HY6C8KKN723MI79
  • Story Text: Arab delegations arrive in Damascus to take part in the annual Arab Summit, but many heads of states are not showing up for the event overshadowed by the Lebanon crisis.
    Arab leaders arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday (March 28) ahead of a two-day Arab League annual summit starting on Saturday (March 29).
    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad greeted leaders at Damascus Airport, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika.
    However, many Arab leaders are staying away from the summit, hit by a campaign to punish the Syrian hosts for backing the Lebanese opposition.
    The political crisis in Lebanon is expected to be one of the major issues to be discussed at the summit.
    The Yemeni vice president will represent his country and Jordan will send only its permanent representative at the Arab League to the annual two-day meeting -- more snubs to an event Syria had hoped would dispel the impression that it is isolated in the region.
    The Lebanese government is boycotting the event completely, and its closest allies -- Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- announced earlier this week that they would send only low-level delegations.
    Bahrain, which is close to the Saudis, sent a deputy prime minister, another low-level delegation leader.
    Diplomats and commentators say the United States has been the driving force behind the campaign to dissuade Arab leaders from going to Syria, which prides itself on its resistance to U.S. and Israeli policies.
    Despite the low turnout of leaders, the Arab League insists it will not affect the issues being discussed, namely the crisis in Lebanon and the Arab peace initiative, or the summit resolutions.
    ''We cannot ignore this fact. However, the important issue is the outcome of this summit. The outcome of the discussions that will take place in the coming two days and the decisions that will come out of this summit in dealing with all kinds of difficulties and problems that we have. This is the important issue. Participation is important but it is not the only factor,'' said Hisham Yusuf, assistant to the Arab League Chief Amr Moussa.
    The long-standing political dispute in Lebanon has dominated the preparations for the summit, which would normally concentrate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an Arab peace initiative first launched in 2002 and the problems in Iraq and Darfur region of western Sudan.
    Yusuf said in addition to Lebanon and Iraq issues, the summit will also discuss the standing of their Mideast peace initiative launched in 2002. Yusuf said the League is waiting to see improvements on the ground in Mideast talks before it evaluates its next step.
    Yusuf referred to an upcoming visit by U.S. President George W Bush to the region in May to help revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
    ''We're holding President Bush to his promise and May would be a time when we will see whether there is progress or not. If there is progress, we will see how to build on it,'' Yusuf said.
    Saudi Arabia, which along with the United States and France backs Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, is sending only its Arab League representative to the event. A junior minister will represent Egypt.
    The struggle in Lebanon is part of the international conflict between the United States and Iran, each of which have allies inside the Arab world.
    Iraq is sending Vice President Adel Abdul-Hadi rather than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is busy with the outbreak of fighting between government forces and fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
    Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is on his way as a guest on the sidelines but the U.N. secretary-general, who often attends Arab summit as a guest of honour, is not coming this year, Syrian officials said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register