By NNN-KUNA
Cairo : Egypt has renewed its call for early agreement on the new head of state for Lebanon, deeming this a prerequisite for the success of the coming Arab summit due in Damascus in late March.
“Lebanon’s seat in the summit should not remain vacant,” Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad told reporters Thursday.
He said that the success of the summit hinged on whether or not Lebanon’s seat was filled.
The spokesman downplayed reports of an emergency Arab summit or shifting the planned summit from Damascus to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.
He urged caution while dealing with reports based on “groundless rumours and speculations.”
“Such reports are frequently circulated,” Awwad said, seeking the outcome of the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting slated for March 5 at the Cairo-based Arab League.
“Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is scheduled to brief the ministerial meeting on his mediation to settle the Lebanese presidential standoff,” the spokesman disclosed.
“The agreement to hold the Arab summit on a regular basis, reached in the Beirut summit in 2002, is a great achievement in itself,” Awwad quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as saying on several prior occasions.