Al Jazeera Report: Mubarak Will Not Attend The Arab Summit
Report: Mubarak tried in vain to forge unified Arab stance
Cairo, March 23 (News Agencies) – Egyptian President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak has decided not to attend the coming Arab Summit to be held in Beirut on March 27 and 28, 2002, according to a breaking news announcement broadcast on Al Jazeera Sattelite Channel.
Egyptian sources, however, have not confirmed the report. Al Jazeera has quoted Egyptian sources, who wanted to remain anonymous, that Mubarak will not attend because of a disagreement over the summit’s agenda.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mustafa Bakry, the editor of al Usboo newspaper said that Mubarak has tried in vain, prior to the summit, to reach a unified Arab stance.
He added that the obstacle facing a united Arab stance was that there are two peace initiatives one Saudi and one Libyan, and there has been no agreement on a unified stance among the Arab countries.
Bakry also added that Egypt received information indicating that Arafat will not attend the summit in Beirut.
Another problem, added Bakry, is that there is no agreement on Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations, which would cause lots of tensions inside the summit and there is still a large gap needing to be bridged between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi parties.
“President Mubarak felt that nothing new will emerge out of this summit,” said Bakry.
