Manama: The Arab League summit, scheduled for Baghdad in March, looked increasingly in doubt for the second consecutive year amid reports that an Arab League delegation visit was put off and that some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are calling for its postponement.
According to a report in a Kuwaiti daily, three GCC countries are spearheading a move to convince the other three fellow members of the alliance to join them in the call to put off the summit by at least three months.
A unified GCC stance would later push for support among the other Arab countries not to have the Baghdad summit in March.
The report said that the GCC states cited security concerns, the political crisis in the country and the inability to put up a comprehensive agenda that would focus on the latest developments in Syria.
A visit by the assistant secretary-general of the Arab League to discuss the preparations for holding the summit scheduled for Monday was postponed to January 30.
Crisis in Syria
Ahmad Bin Hilli attributed the one-week delay to the fact that the Arab League was busy with emergency meetings on the crisis in Syria and the implementation of the Arab foreign ministers’ decisions.
Bin Hilli said that he would lead a massive delegation to the Iraqi capital, Qatari daily Al Sharq reported on Tuesday.
Baghdad has repeatedly said that it was keen on its summit and that it was ready to host all delegations.