Eight Arab leaders will not attend Beirut's summit
Regional, Politics, 3/26/2002

It was confirmed on Monday that the two rulers of Qatar and Kuwait, the Sultan of Oman, President of the United Arab Emirates will not attend the summit, after the absence of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Libyan President Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi, President of Mauritania, confirmed they will not also attend the summit.

The ruler of Kuwait, who recently underwent an eye surgery will be represented by his brother, the foreign minister Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, according to an official statement issued on Monday by the Kuwaiti press.

Meantime, statement issued on Monday in Abu Dhabi said that the UAE Deputy Premier Maktoum Bin Rashed al-Maktoum will represent UAE President to Beirut summit.

The ruler of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khaleifa al-Thani will not head for Beirut to take part in the summit and he will be represented by the prime minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khaleifa al-Thani, according to a statement circulated by the Qatari news agency.

In Muscat a statement by the Sultan's palace said that Oman's deputy premier for the Cabinet affairs Fahd Bin Muhammad al-Saeed will head today ( Tuesday) to Beirut to represent Sultan Qabous Bin Saeed to the Arab summit.

No official statement was made on the reason behind the absence of the four rulers, especially the ruler of Qatar, the current President of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Although no official statement was released from Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom will be represented by its crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz.

No official confirmation was not yet confirmed on the participation of the King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa al-Thani in the Summit. Commonly the King of Bahrain takes part in the Arab summits and the meetings of the Gulf Co-operation Council GCC.

Al-Qaddafi will not be taking place in the summit. he will be presented by the Libyan minister for African unity affairs Abdul Salaam al-Tureiki. The Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will not take part in the summit. He will be represented by the deputy chairman of the revolution's leadership council Izzat Ibrahim.

The President of Mauritania will be represented by the first minister ( prime minister) al-Sheikh al-Afeyah Wild Muhammad Khouna. It was presumed that the Mauritania President will himself head for Beirut to attend the summit at persistent Libya and Saudi calls but he on Monday decided to delegate al-Afeyah for reasons not known yet.

In Tunisia, the spokesman for the Tunisian Presidency said that the Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali will head today for Beirut to take part in the Arab summit.

In al-Rabat, the Royal court announced, in a statement, that the Moroccan King Muhammad VI will head today for Beirut to take part in the Arab summit.

Previous Stories:
  Draft Beirut declaration affirms Arab solidarity and adherence to just peace   (3/25/2002)
  Mubarak sustains contacts   (3/25/2002)
  Maher: all issues will be tackled at the summit   (3/25/2002)

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