Jordan Times
Thursday, May 20, 2004
King, Mubarak to attend
rescheduled summit
Agencies
His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday arrived in Rabat on a two-day visit,
after which he will head to Tunis to take part in the Arab summit, the Jordan
News Agency, Petra, reported.
Scheduled to begin May 22, the summit is expected
to discuss the Iraqi situation, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and regional
reform, Petra said.
In a related development, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said yesterday he
will attend the rescheduled summit, saying it was essential because of the
meeting's agenda, Agence France-Presse quoted the state news agency MENA as
reporting.
The Egyptian leader said it was “necessary that the summit take place and we
cannot escape it,” despite what he called the “rumours” that it could once again
be called off.
King Abdullah, Mubarak and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika are the only
heads of states who confirmed their participation, other than host President
Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.
Mubarak said the absence of some leaders “should not be considered as a negative
attitude toward the Arab League.” The 22-member organisation, based in Cairo, is
“the home of all Arabs and it must be preserved,” Mubarak said. Tunis was
heavily criticised for its last-minute cancellation of the annual Arab summit
originally scheduled at the end of March, on the grounds that Arab states could
not reach agreement on proposals for democratic reform.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler, Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz, will
not attend the two-day summit, the Saudi-owned daily Al Hayat reported Monday.
Bahrain's royal palace announced that King Hamad would not attend either.
Egyptian Information Minister Safwat Al Sherif and intelligence chief General
Omar Suleiman travelled to the Libyan capital on Wednesday for talks on the
Tunis summit, MENA said.