Arab participation at the OIC summit

Some 8 Arab states and several Islamic states from Asia and Africa have informed the general secretariat of the Islamic conference which is headed by Iran that they had decided to minimize its representation at the forthcoming summit due to be held in Doha on November 12 and 13.

The London- based al-Zamaan daily quoted a diplomatic source as saying that the reason behind this minimization is attributed to Qatar's foreign policy which is based on interfering in the internal affairs of other states and the persistence of the government of Qatar to keep its representation office in Israel and the Israeli trade office in Doha.

The paper added that each of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Tunisia, Kuwait and Algeria besides non- Islamic states decided to reduce the level of its representation to the Doha summit to the minimum.

The source indicated that certain Arab states including Syria and Lebanon remarked on the need to reconsider the venue of convening the conference and to replace Doha by another capital which can keep balanced relations with the Arab and Islamic states.

The source said that the prince of Qatar had promised the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to close the Israeli trade office in Doha during the convening of the international convening on Jerusalem which was held last week in Doha. It was attended by the Palestinian official in charge of Jerusalem file at the Palestinian Authority. The Qatari announcement to close the Israeli office was not released and this created unrest among the Palestinians.