Al-Assad arrived in Beirut by land

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Beirut on Tuesday evening by land in order to take part in the ordinary Arab summit which starts deliberations today.

The Syrian official delegation is composed of the vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam and the deputy premier and foreign minister Farouk al-Shara.

At his residence in Beirut on Tuesday evening the President received the deputy chairman of the revolution's leadership council in Iraq Izzat Ibrahim and members of the accompanying delegation. The Iraqi delegation is composed of the foreign minister Naji Sabri Ahmad al-Hadithi, the minister of trade and commerce Muhammad Mahdi Saleh, the minister of information Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf and Iraq's representative at the Arab League Mohsin Khalil.

The meeting was attended by Khaddam, al-Shara. Discussions dealt with issues listed on the agenda of the summit.

The President also received at his residence on Tuesday evening the first deputy for the Kuwaiti Premier and foreign minister in the state of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and members of the accompanying delegation, which includes the minister of state for the Cabinet affairs Muhammad Deif Allah Sharar, the Kuwaiti ministers of information and Finance, and the two Kuwaiti ambassadors in Damascus and Beirut. The meeting which was also attended by Khaddam and al-Shara dealt with topics listed on the agenda of the Arab summit.

President al-Assad on Tuesday evening visited the Lebanese President at his residence at Vinicia hotel and exchanged with him talks on issues pertinent to the summit.