Middle East Focus: Arab Summits: a Thirty-Five Year Farce………….

Arabia Deserta

Arab Summits: a Thirty-Five Year Farce………….

“Libya's long-standing dictator Moammar Qaddafi has been a central player in disrupting an impressive number of previous Arab summits. Last year, after his public feud with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah dominated the Arab Summit in Doha (he declared himself "the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims"), I wondered if we had seen the end of Arab summits. Well, technically no, since they still roll around like clockwork. But functionally, perhaps so. The attendance at the upcoming summit is notably poor. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia doesn't seem to find it a pressing item of business, after being so rudely interrupted by Qaddafi in Doha. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is very, very not sick and doing wonderfully (according to the Egyptian state media; the rumor mill still thinks he's dead), but isn't up to traveling to Libya, so the leader of the supposedly pivotal Arab state will miss his third consecutive Arab summit meeting. Several Gulf leaders, including Sultan Qabus of Oman and Sheikh Khalifa of the UAE have sent their regrets. Iraq will stay away after Qaddafi invited some Iraqi resistance figures. So will Lebanon. Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to boycott if Hamas is invited; at last report, he will come but plans to arrive fashionably late. Algeria's President Bouteflika apparently overcame illness to attend, but Morocco's King Mohammed VI has threatened to stay home if he does…….”

The title was: “Arab Summit More Of a Farce Than Normal This Year”. I don’t think so, it was no more a farce than previous thirty-five Arab summits.
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mhg

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