A rchive Date
[ 20-02-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Bahrain ]
|
[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/02/20/28921-ap.html
Arab leaders to hold summit on March 1 in Egypt, Iraq to be main topic
Thu, February 20, 2003
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Arab leaders will hold a summit March 1 in Cairo, officials said Thursday, clearing the way for what is likely to be a contentious conference on what to do about Iraq.
The Cairo-based Arab League, scene in recent days of tense arguments over Iraq among Arab diplomats, announced the date and venue in a terse statement: "The Arab lead secretariat declares that the 15th regular edition of the Arab summit will be held March 1 under the presidency of the kingdom of Bahrain in Cairo, the Arab League headquarters."
That amounted to a compromise after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's call for an emergency summit on Iraq to be held at a resort on his Red Sea coast before the end of February ran into opposition. Other Arab leaders had questioned whether a hurried, emergency meeting was necessary when they already were planning a late March regular, annual summit - one likely to have a broader agenda than just Iraq - and when they were still so divided over Iraq.
Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, where the regular summit was to have been held, and Mubarak spoke by telephone Wednesday and agreed to move up the ordinary summit and hold it at Arab League headquarters, a Bahraini official told The Associated Press Thursday on condition of anonymity. Bahrain soon will be sending invitations to all Arab countries, the official said.
The dispute over logistics accompanied a deeper argument over whether Arabs should rally around Iraq, accused by the United States and Britain of hiding weapons of mass destruction, or pressure Iraq to do more to calm the crisis.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|