Historical cities' conference causes dispute over Jerusalem representation

The Arab League on Thursday objected to an invitation extended by Poland to the mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, and excluded the representative of the Palestinian government to the historical cities conference to be held in Krakov on May 25 - 28.

Arab League assistant secretary-general Saeed Kamal said, "The A.L. is following up the Polish position of inviting what is called the mayor of Jerusalem, of the Israeli identity to represent the city of Jerusalem, and its refusal to invite the Palestinian authority representative Faisal al-Husseini, or not to invite the two altogether."

The A.L. official added that Poland "was persistent in its position despite its ambassador to Cairo being summoned and informed about the objection of the Arab League over the invitation and despite the intensive contacts held with the Polish government for this purpose," MENA reported.

The A.L. has distributed a recommendation that the Arab countries boycott the conference after consultations with the Arab ambassadors' council at league headquarters.