Saudi King Boycotting Arab Summit, Mubarak Reluctant to Go
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is boycotting an Arab summit due to be held in Syria next month and Egypt”s President has not made up his mind yet on the conference amid a row over Lebanon”s presidential crisis.
Press reports, citing both Saudi and Egyptian sources, said the Saudi monarch will not attend the summit scheduled for March 29-30.
They said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, however, is likely to attend the opening session only.
The sources said that Mubarak and Abdul Aziz have agreed that participation, should it take place, is to be on a low level.
An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Cairo was informed of the Saudi decision to boycott the summit.
He said Cairo will exert efforts during the coming few days to convince Damascus to facilitate presidential elections in Lebanon.
Despite consensus on Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman for president, feuding Lebanese politicians have failed to agree on power-sharing in a future government.
Arab analysts and media reports have suggested that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries could boycott the Damascus summit or send low-level delegates.
Behind the scenes of the political crisis in Lebanon lurks the international tribunal being set up to establish the truth behind the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
“Damascus defines its relations with other countries on the basis of their attitude towards the tribunal. And because Riyadh favors setting up the trial the Syrian regime sees this as an unfriendly stance, even hostile,” Saudi academic Khalid al-Dakhil said last week.
An Arab diplomat had also said that Syria was “accusing Saudi Arabia of trying to internationalize the Lebanese crisis” by supporting the Hariri tribunal which Syria fears could pin the blame on Lebanon”s eastern neighbor.
Damascus believes Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal”s recent tour of several Western capitals, including Washington and Paris, was aimed at speeding up the establishment of the tribunal, according to a Riyadh-based diplomat.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have informed Prime Minister Fouad Saniora”s government they will soon pay their contributions to finance the tribunal.
Ahead of the Damascus summit, Saudi Arabia has not even received an invitation from Syria although the Gulf state currently holds its rotating presidency.
A member of Saudi Arabia”s appointed consultative council, Mohammed al-Zulfa had said the kingdom was unlikely to take part at a high level unless Syria changes its stand on Lebanon, where it was the key powerbroker before the Hariri murder led to a Syrian military pullout after a three-decade deployment.
“It”s possible the summit will not take place at all or only before a handful of heads of state,” Dakhil said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said earlier this month that he hoped the Lebanon deadlock would be resolved by the time his country hosts the summit.
“Syria supports the Arab initiative as an overall plan which would be implemented by consensus between the Lebanese,” he said.