Damascus: Riyadh, Cairo want Baghdad to attend forthcoming summit

Syrian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mustafa Tlass asserted that Syria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia want Iraq to take part in the forthcoming Arab summit.

In a statement to the UAE daily Al-Khaleej issued on Sunday, Tlass said, "The Arab summit will eventually be held." He added that Syria, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt "demand the convening of the said summit in the presence of Iraq."

Last June Saudi Arabia made shuttle moves to convene an Arab summit. Its efforts were obstructed because of disputes between Syria and Jordan, as Damascus called for freezing relations between certain Arab states and Israel.

The Syrian defense minister added that this gathering should address a firm message to the US before addressing Israel. And the message has to read that all Arabs from "the Gulf to the Ocean have fully realized that all that has been said or done by the US proves it is biased toward Israel and this situation will not last forever."

Tlass considered it as a big mistake committed by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his allies to accept the US plan to withdraw from 13.1% of the West Bank territories. "This was a prefabricated plan just to serve the interest of Israel. Accepting it reveals there will be no more new negotiations, rather continuous concessions," Tlass said.