By Xinhua
Damascus : The annual Arab summit kicked off in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday with the participation of the member states of the Arab League (AL) except Lebanon.
The two-day summit is the 20th of its kind since the 22-member AL, formally called as the League of Arab States, was founded in 1945.
On Thursday, Arab foreign ministers held a preparatory meeting here, hammering out the summit’s agenda and a draft resolution.
Various issues in the region were on the agenda, including the Palestinian issue, the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflicts, conditions in Iraq, Sudan and Somalia’s problem and a wide range of issues connected with joint Arab action.
Only 11 heads of state, including President Bashar al-Assad of the host Syria, are present at the summit. It is the first time for Syria to host an Arab summit.
The poor turnout of Arab leaders reflects a rift among the Arab nations over a series of issues, especially the Lebanese political crisis, in which the Syrians are accused of meddling, an allegation denied by Damascus.
Two regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, close to the pro-Western government in Lebanon, decided to send only low-level delegations to the summit, blaming Damascus for blocking the presidential election in its small neighbor.
Saudi Arabia sent only its permanent representative to the AL Ahmad Qattan and Egyptian delegation is only headed by its Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufed Mahmoud Shehab, which apparently is a snub to Damascus.
The Lebanese cabinet also announced on Tuesday a boycott to the summit and urged Arabs to tackle the deteriorating Lebanese-Syrian relations.
On Friday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora attributed its refusal to the summit to a rejection to be represented by any person other than an elected president and also a protest against Syria’s policies and practices regarding Lebanon.
Jordan was the latest pro-Western country in the region to declare a low-key representation on Friday, sending only its permanent representative to the AL Omar Rifai here.