By DPA
Beirut : The Lebanese cabinet decided late Tuesday not to attend the March 29-30 Arab summit being hosted by Syria, a ministerial source said.
“We have decided not to attend the Syrian summit,” the source said, without elaborating.
Lebanon’s parliament Monday postponed for the 17th time a session to elect a new president, because the ruling coalition and opposition were unable to agree on the makeup of the next government.
The session was put back to April 22 to allow further negotiations.
The Lebanese rival parties are divided on how to change the constitution to allow a public servant to take the post. They also disagree on the make-up of the cabinet and who should lead the government.
The anti-Syrian ruling majority has accused Syria of preventing the election of a president through its allies inside Lebanon, who are headed by the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah.
The presidential post has been vacant since the end of the term of ex-pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud on Nov 23, 2007.
In a further snub to Syria, Saudi Arabia has said that it will send only its Arab League ambassador Ahmad Abdulaziz Qattan to head its delegation, while Cairo diplomatic sources said Egypt would be sending its Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit.
“If we hold the Arab summit while Lebanon is not represented by a president or under-represented, then certain Arab powers will not be happy,” Egypt’s state-run news agency quoted Abul-Gheit as saying.