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Saudis To Attend Amman Arab Summit
by Tareq Ayyoub
AMMAN, March 22 (IslamOnline) - Saudi Arabia has decided to send a low profile delegation to attend the March 27th Arab summit scheduled to be held in Amman.
The sudden Saudi decision came a few hours after the visit of Jordanian monarch King Abdullah to Riyadh earlier Thursday where he met with King Fahd and senior Saudi officials.
The Sauid communiqué said that Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz will represent Saudi Arabia in the two-day summit replacing his elder brother Crown Prince Abdullan.
The Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite television channel said the Saudi decision was prompted by Jordanian plans to give the Iraqi cause a large portion in the summit's agenda.
No further details were available in the surprise Saudi move.
Arab Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Amman on Saturday to prepare the summit's agenda, which will tackle political and economic issues.
The six-month Palestinian uprising and the 11-year, U.S.-spearheaded sanctions against Iraq are expected to top the summit's agenda.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Economic Minister Boutros-Ghali on Thursday announced that the long-awaited multi-million dollar gas pipeline will pass through Jordan to neighboring states in the first stage before funneling on to Turkey and Europe.
"We agreed in principle to launch this project and we will discuss technical matters later on," said Ghali, who was speaking to reporters following his arrival in Amman to attend the meeting of the Arab ministers of trade and economy, which will open Friday.
Jordan was advocating the construction of a land route for the project, which will cost more than $600 million, while Lebanon proposed a maritime route.
Last week, the prime ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria met in Damascus where the gas-line project topped their agenda.
The project is among several the Arab leaders are expected to discuss during the summit in Amman.
Director of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), Jassim Mina'e, said the ministers will "crystallize a paper" on the issues that will be submitted to summit.
"The paper will include the mechanism to revive inter-Arab trade and cooperation and enhance joint investments in the Middle East," Mina'e told reporters.
"The Arab leaders will discuss these proposals and if they need technical advice, they can be referred to technical teams who will review the proposals," Mina'e, who will represent the AMF in the ministers' meeting, said.
The official said that Arab financial institutions and the business sector will take part in financing these projects, "which will focus on infrastructure, to support restructuring programs and increase inter-Arab trade."
Mina'e indicated that Arab funds would also play a role in financing these projects.
Secretary General of the Arab Cooperation Council Ahmad Jweily, who also arrived here to attend the Friday meeting, said Arab private banks are expected to finance the joint venture.
Ghali said that among the projects the Arab leaders will review is a "comprehensive land transportation plan" which will include the construction of a railway and a land route that will link Arab countries.
"This plan includes construction infrastructure that will facilitate land transportation in the Middle East," the Egyptian minister said.
"The summit will discuss how to launch this project," Ghali said.
Arab ministers will also discuss extending financial support to the Palestinian people, who were promised $1 billion in assistance in the previous Arab summit held in Cairo last year.
The Palestinians say that they received only $3 million and blamed Arab countries for failing to fulfill their commitments.
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