Jordan”s King: Obstacles Facing Implementation of Arab Plan should be Removed

Jordan”s King Abdullah II on Sunday said the Arab summit next month in Damascus needs “careful planning” as he received an invitation to attend the meeting, the palace said.

 

“Careful planning is needed for the summit in order to create consensus and come up with a unified Arab position at this critical stage with major challenges facing the Arab nation,” he told Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

 

Muallem handed the invitation from President Bashar al-Assad to the Jordanian monarch, the palace said.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa has said the 22-member body”s annual summit would be held in Damascus on March 29 and 30, in spite of Syria”s alleged involvement in Lebanon”s political crisis.

 

Lebanon has been without a head of state since November 23, after pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term with no elected successor and parliament has failed so far to elect a president.

 

“Obstacles facing the implementation of an Arab League plan to end the Lebanese crisis should be removed,” the king said.

 

The plan calls for the election of Lebanon”s army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no single party has veto power, and a new electoral law.

 

But feuding Lebanese politicians have not agreed on the proposal.