Arab Summit Falls Apart 26 March 2002 Leaders from several Arab states -- including Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates -- either will not attend or have not yet confirmed their attendance at the March 27-28 League of Arab States summit in Beirut. Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa still has not confirmed his attendance and has criticized the summit, saying the meeting would be meaningless without Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli leaders have not decided whether to allow Arafat to leave the West Bank -- and there are concerns that if he does leave, he will not be allowed to return. The Arab summit is falling apart before it even gets off the ground. The lack of participation signals that Arab governments are not willing to discuss the main topics on the agenda: Iraq and the Middle East peace plan proposed by Saudi Arabia. This means that -- despite Saudi government claims of Arab backing -- there is little or no support for the Saudi peace proposal. The offer pledges peace between Israel and all Arab states in return for Israel's withdrawal from all disputed territories occupied since 1967. Second, and perhaps more important for the U.S. government, there seems to be no consensus on a potential U.S. strike against Iraq. Baghdad has been working to mobilize and solidify Arab opposition to a potential U.S. military campaign against Iraq. It would have used the summit as an additional attempt to build consensus, but that is now out of the question. Despite claims by every Arab state following visits by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney that they do not support any aggression toward Iraq, the failure to attend the summit suggests that many Arab states -- especially the five Gulf nations that are home to U.S. military headquarters or pre-positioning bases -- may participate in the campaign. http://www.stratfor.com/fib/topStory_view.php?ID=203626
According to CNN, Arafat has said he won't go because Israel's terms say they will let him go, but don't guarantee he'll be allowed back. He will, apparently, speak through tele-conferencing though.
