Egyptian - Saudi efforts to guarantee the success of the Arab summit

Esmat Abdul Meguid, the Arab League's secretary-general, confirmed that the efforts exerted by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to reconcile the points of view between Syria and Jordan aim at removing the obstacles in the way of holding an Arab summit, pointing out that it is impossible to hold the summit if there is no guarantee of success, agreement and understanding.

In a statement in Manama, Abdul Meguid said yesterday that it is possible to hold a mini-summit Arab to remove the obstacles facing the expanded summit, then he confirmed that an invitation will be directed to Iraq to participate in any expanded Arab summit, referring to changes in Arab and international stances toward Iraq, which became very obvious when all Arab countries refused a military strike against Iraq during a crisis earlier this year over U.N. weapons inspections.

Abdul Meguid also called for reviving the work of the Arab joint defense committee within the frame of the Arab League, pointing out that this committee's work was been halted 20 years ago.

Concerning the Israeli stances towards Jerusalem, Abdul Meguid confirmed that Jerusalem cannot be Israeli, because the Islamic and Christian worlds will never approve of Israel keeping Jerusalem.