CAIRO, March 23 (IslamOnline) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will attend the Arab Summit due to be held in Beirut on Wednesday, March 27.
In statements to Islamonline, a presidential source described an earlier report by Al Jazeerah Satellite Channel that Mubarak was not to attend the summit as “Untrue”.
The source said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher has informed his Lebanese counterpart Mahmoud Hamoud during a phone conversation Saturday afternoon that president Mubarak will attend the Summit.
However, no official announcement was made about Mubarak’s participation in the forthcoming Summit.
Former Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Mohamed Wafaa Hegazy underlined the importance of Egypt’s participation in the Summit pointing out that there is no official indication so far that president Mubarak is not going to attend the Summit.
He said that the Arab nations are hopeful that the Summit could crystalise a unified stance against the unprecedented Israeli acts of terror in the Palestinian territories.
Ambassador Hegazy said he hoped the largest number of Arab Leaders would attend the Summit in order to work out resolutions satisfactory to the angry Arab masses.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Tahseen Bashir, a former presidential spokesman, said the absence of some Arab leaders, especially the leader of Egypt, would weaken the Summit and cast doubt on its ability to achieve its objective.
