CAIRO, 20 May 2004 — Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak said yesterday he will attend the rescheduled Arab summit in Tunis this weekend, saying it was essential because of the meeting’s agenda, the state news agency MENA reported.
The Egyptian leader said it was “necessary that the summit take place and we cannot escape it”, despite what he called the “rumors” that it could once again be called off.
Mubarak is only the second head of state, other than host President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to confirm he will attend the summit which opens Saturday. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has also said he will be present.
“I anticipate that most heads of state will participate and I will be there in person because this summit is essential to discuss the problems over reforms of the Arab League and reforms” in the Arab world, he said.
Mubarak said the Israeli-Palestinian and Iraq conflicts were also “hot issues which must be addressed at the summit”.
If the level of representation in Tunis is lowered, “it will not be a summit, it will be a talking shop”, he warned.
But he said the absence of some leaders “should not be considered as a negative attitude toward the Arab League”. The 22-member organization, is “the home of all Arabs and it must be preserved,” Mubarak said.
Egyptian Information Minister Safwat Al-Sherif and intelligence chief Gen. Omar Suleiman traveled to the Libyan capital yesterday for talks on the summit, MENA said.
