Last update - 00:00 09/03/2008
Despite rumors of rift, Syria invites Saudi Arabia to Arab summit
By The Associated Press
A Syrian minister has delivered an invitation to Saudi Arabia to attend this month's Arab summit scheduled to be held in Damascus, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported Sunday.
But in what appears to be part of the tension between Damascus and Riyadh, the invitation was handed over to Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal by Syria State Minister Bashar al-Shaar, and not by the foreign minister as usual.
Last week, as Arab foreign ministers met in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to plan their annual summit's agenda, the body was riven with rumors that Egypt and Saudi Arabia would boycott the meeting to show their displeasure with Syria's meddling in Lebanon's serious political crisis.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem handed over a similar invitation to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last month and was expected to visit Saudi, which had reportedly refused to set a date for him for days.
SANA did not say why al-Shaar went to Saudi instead of al-Moallem.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told the Dubai-based Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya in remarks aired Sunday that Saudi Arabia will attend the two-day summit beginning March 29. He added that the level has not been specified yet.
Individual countries often show their displeasure with the state of regional affairs or specifically the host countries by not sending their head of state.
U.S.-backed Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, were reportedly threatening to boycott the gathering if no president is elected in Lebanon by then.
Lebanon's parliament is scheduled to meet Tuesday and try for the 16th time to elect a new president. The country has been without a president since pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ended last November, with no successor being elected.
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