By Xinhua
Damascus : Iraqi Vice President Adel AbdulMehdi arrived here on Friday to attend the forthcoming Arab summit due on Saturday and Sunday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had previously planned to come for the summit, but he changed his schedule after deciding to enforce crackdown on Shiite gunmen as Iraqi troops battled militias in the cities of Basra and Kut. Iraq was strongly present in the Summit given the current regional circumstances, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters before Abdul Mehdi’s arrival.
“The Damascus Summit is very important for us, and despite the current circumstances in our country, the Iraqi delegation is strongly present,” he said, expressing his country’s hope for Arab support in a way that guaranteed it’s unity, sovereignty and stability.