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Mubarak Not Attending Arab Summit
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| Egypt’s
Mubarak
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CAIRO,
March 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak will not attend the Arab summit in Beirut and directed Prime
Minister Atef Ebeid to represent him, the official MENA news agency
announced Tuesday.
Abeid
had already left Cairo for Beirut, but did not say why Mubarak was
staying away from the meeting.
Mubarak
will not attend the Arab summit because of domestic reasons that
obliged him to remain in Egypt, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher
said Tuesday in Cairo.
Maher
told journalists that Mubarak had to deal with "domestic
problems," which he did not explain.
He
confirmed that Ebeid would head the Egyptian delegation.
Maher
made the announcement just as the Egyptian government jet, which was
thought to be carrying Mubarak, landed at Beirut airport with Ebeid on
board.
In Beirut, meanwhile, a senior Arab official said he learned that
"Mr. Mubarak is not coming," according to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
The
official could not explain why the Egyptian leader was staying away
from the summit, which is to discuss a Saudi plan for peace between
Arab states and Israel.
For
his part, Mustafa Bakry, editor of Egyptian weekly newspaper, al
Usboo, speaking to Al Jazeera, said that Mubarak’s absence was
expected, contrary to news asserting his attendance.
“Mubarak
is a very important leader and his presence would have granted weight
to the summit. He has great experience, contacts and effectiveness.
However, the Egyptian Prime Minister will be there, and Egypt’s
stance on the major issues before the stance is clear.
“But,
in light of Mubarak staying away, and Arafat not attending, there will
be narrow room for discussing any peace initiatives,” said Bakry.
Walid
Shuqair, manager of Al-Hayat newspaper office in Beirut, said that
Mubarak’s absence would affect the summit’s decisions.
Commenting
on Mubarak’s absence for domestic reasons, Shuqair dismissed the
excuse as “a diplomatic way of expressing real reasons”. He
stopped short, however, of saying what the real reasons may be.
On
Sunday, Maher, responding to rumors that Mubarak would not attend,
insisted that he would do so.
On
Saturday, March 23, Qatar-based Al Jazeera Sattelite Channel, in
breaking news then, reported Mubarak decided not to attend the coming
Arab Summit to be held in Beirut on March 27 and 28, 2002.
Al Jazeera quoted Egyptian sources, who wanted to remain anonymous,
that Mubarak will not attend because of a disagreement over the
summit’s agenda.
Bakry told Al Jazeera that Mubarak tried in vain, prior to the summit,
to reach a unified Arab stance.
He added that the obstacle facing a united Arab stance was that there
are two peace initiatives one Saudi and one Libyan, and there has been
no agreement on a unified stance among the Arab countries.
Bakry also added that Egypt received information indicating that
Arafat will not attend the summit in Beirut.
Another problem, added Bakry, is that there is no agreement on
Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations, which would cause lots of tensions inside the
summit and there is still a large gap needing to be bridged between
the Kuwaiti and Iraqi parties.
“President Mubarak felt that nothing new will emerge out of this
summit,” said Bakry.
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