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Kuwait City: Kuwait's Emir will head the country's delegation to the Arab summit in Damascus, the Cabinet said in a statement published on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as Saudi Arabia decided to only send its Arab League ambassador to the March 29-30 gathering, reflecting mounting tensions between Riyadh and Damascus over Syria's alleged role in fuelling the political crisis in Lebanon.
According to a statement published in Al Qabas daily, the Cabinet was informed in its weekly meeting on Monday that the Emir, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, was attending. It did not elaborate.
The absence of Saudi's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz was a big blow to Syrian attempts to ensure high-level representation at the first Arab summit it hosts.
The meeting is normally attended by the heads of state of participating Arab countries. Any boycott is meant to show displeasure with the state of regional affairs or with the host country.
"Sometimes, by attending you have more influence on matters you care about," said Shafiq Al Gabra, political science teacher at Kuwait University.
Al Watan columnist Nabeel Al Fadhl, said Kuwait's high-level presence was necessary so that the "Syrian-Saudi dispute would not look like a regional one between all of the Gulf countries and Damascus." Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority has accused Damascus of meddling in the country's affairs by pushing opposition lawmakers to obstruct the election of a new president in parliament. Syria has denied the accusations.
Arab powerhouse Egypt, which like Saudi backs the pro-Western majority in Lebanon, has reportedly been threatening a boycott the summit unless a new Lebanese president was elected by the time of the meeting. Cairo has not said whether President Hosni Mubarak will attend.
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