Egypt's president skips Arab League summit in Doha

Cairo: Egypt on Saturday said that President Hosni Mubarak will not attend an Arab summit due to begin in the Qatari capital Doha on Monday with analysts predicting that the move will hamper reconciliation efforts in the Arab world .

"Egypt has decided that Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mufeed Shehab will lead the Egyptian delegation to the Arab summit in Doha," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al Gaith, said on Saturday.

He added that Shehab would relay to the Arab summit "Egypt's views on the current Arab situation and challenges facing the Arab nation".

Cairo gave no clear explanation for the low-profile representation in the conference.

Analysts, however, attribute the step to Egypt's dismay at what it saw as unjustified Qatari criticism of the Egyptian position during Israel's 22-day onslaught on Gaza in late December.

"Mubarak's decision to stay away from the [Qatar] summit came as no surprise," Emad Jad of the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies, said.

"It is no secret that Egypt refused to allow Qatar to attend a mini-summit held in Riyadh [on March 11] with the participation of Saudi and Syrian leaders. Egypt's objection was due to the Qatari behaviour, including Al Jazira television's attacks on Egypt and its bid to meddle in its internal affairs," Jad said.

Mubarak's absence from the conference will affect efforts to promote Arab reconciliation, according to Jad.

"I expect other Arab leaders to stay away from the summit. There would be no substantial moves on pressing Arab issues such as Sudan and Palestine. Just there would be routine, ineffective resolutions."

This will be the second time Mubarak has stayed way from the annual Arab summits. Last year, he did not attend an Arab League conference in Damascus in protest against Syria's support for Lebanon's Hezbollah and alliance with Iran.

In Doha, Arab foreign ministers warned yesterday that an Arab Middle East peace plan on offer since 2002 will not stay on the table for ever, according to a draft declaration ahead of their annual summit.

"The peace initiative that is proposed today will not be on offer for a long time," read a copy of the draft declaration obtained by AFP. "Arab commitment to this initiative is dependent on an Israeli acceptance of it."

Saudi King Abdullah warned during a January Arab economic summit that the Saudi-inspired initiative, which offers full normalisation of ties with Israel in return for its withdrawal from occupied territories, will not last for ever.

The ministers met yesterday ahead of the summit, seeking to put on a show of unity.

But a Qatari official said only 16 leaders from the 22-member Arab League will be attending the summit, highlighting lingering differences.

Arab states are trying to overcome rifts which emerged largely over the response to Israel's three-week onslaught on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and discuss the growing influence of Shiite Iran in the region. "We have to live up to our responsibilities and work towards closing ranks," Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jabr Al Thani, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, said at the meeting of foreign ministers.

Leaders invited to the summit include Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, who faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

However, it is not clear whether Al Bashir - who has made three trips abroad since the warrant was issued on March 4 - will attend.

"The pressure on Sudan is unacceptable," Bahraini's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khaled Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, said.

Qatar is not a signatory to the treaty that set up the ICC and Arab countries have called for the court to rescind the warrant, saying it could harm peace efforts in Darfur.

- With inputs from agencies