Egypt To Host ‘Mini Arab Summit’: Report

The aim of the reported gathering is to discuss a suitable date for the Arab Summit that was to be kicked off Monday, March 29, in Tunisia before the would-be host state called it off in the 11th hour, according to Al-Jazeera satellite channel Tuesday.

Quoting Arab diplomatic sources, Al-Jazeera said Syrian President Bashar el-Assad and Bahraini Monarch King Hamad Bbin Eissa Al Khalifa would join the meeting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Mubarak held talks with King Hamad in Sharm El-Sheikh Monday evening and was due to meet Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Al-Shara there Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Abdullah is scheduled to make a three-hour stop in Sharm El-Sheikh Wednesday for a meeting with Mubarak before continuing to Austria for an official three-day visit.

In Damascus, the Syrian News Agency (SANA) reported that Al-Shara Monday held discussions over the phone with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa. The topic was finding ways to settle on a date to continue discussing the remaining agendas on the awaited Arab Summit.

SANA added that Al-Shara was to visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia Tuesday carrying messages from Assad to Mubarak and Abdullah.

On Monday, Mubarak strongly criticized Tunisia for calling off the Arab summit, as he wooed support for hosting a rescheduled conference in Cairo.

But despite expressions of support for the change of venue from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali said Tunis remained determined to retain its right to host the meeting.

"I was astounded," state media quoted Mubarak as saying. "I did not believe it was possible for a summit to be cancelled without anyone being consulted."

Mubarak said he had acted "to save the situation" by offering Sunday to host it in Cairo.

But he added that, unlike "certain countries", he had no objection to it taking place in Tunis.

After hastily arranged talks between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Mubarak in Cairo, a top Saudi official called for urgent talks between Egypt and Tunisia to thrash out an agreement on the summit’s rescheduling.

"Saudi Arabia believes such consultations should be held, specifically between Egypt and Tunisia, in order to reach agreement on the date and venue of the summit," the official said.