SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 1 April 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday and welcomed Cairo’s call to hold an Arab summit quickly.
“Prince Abdullah welcomed the call by Egypt for holding the summit as early as possible to protect Arab unity and prevent division,” Egyptian Information Minister Safwat Al-Sherief said after the meeting.
He said Mubarak and Prince Abdullah emphasized the importance of holding the summit at “this difficult and critical stage, which demands Arab solidarity and upholding of higher Arab interests.”
Mubarak also consulted with King Hamad of Bahrain and King Abdallah of Jordan about holding the summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after the collapse of a planned Tunis meeting, which was scheduled for Monday.
Crown Prince Abdullah met with Mubarak at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport during a stopover on his way to Austria. “The two leaders had total agreement on all issues discussed,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Al-Sherief as saying. He said the two leaders stressed the need for holding consultations with Arab leaders to ensure the participation of a large number of countries.
Asked about a possible date for the summit, he said it depended on the outcome of consultations between Arab leaders. “There is an eagerness to take part in this summit,” he added.
The collapse of the summit in Tunis prompted widespread criticism that Arab leaders had failed to meet the challenge of standing up to Israel and embarking on political reform.
During a preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Tunis, the Tunisian government said it was indefinitely postponing the summit because Arab countries rejected its proposals for democratic change. Several Arab foreign ministers denied Tunisia’s reason.
The Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram said yesterday that the summit would now be held in Egypt at the start of May. The newspaper added that Mubarak’s talks sought to “set a date for holding a meeting in Cairo of Arab foreign ministers to prepare for the summit.”
An Egyptian official said meanwhile that Syrian President Bashar Assad, with whom Mubarak spoke over the telephone on Tuesday, would travel here today. In Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher told reporters he expected the summit to take place in May, without giving an exact date.
An Egyptian source said that 10 of the 22 Arab League members had so far supported the move to hold the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. They were said to be Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, the Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. Tunisian President Zaine Al-Abidine Ben Ali has said the summit’s postponement did not imply his government had abandoned its “right” to host the gathering.
