IRAQ: Arab leaders will not hold a special summit on Iraq, but only their annual summit in March, because of "differences" between them, an Arab League official said yesterday.
"An extraordinary summit on Iraq will not take place because of Arab differences. Arab states are in consultation on the date and place for an ordinary Arab summit in March," the official said. The summit would probably be held in Cairo "during the month of March, not at the start of the month".
Arab League chief Mr Amr Mussa said earlier that Arab countries were agreed that a summit would take place in March, implying that plans to hold it in February had been quashed.
"Discussions are under way to fix the date and the place of the summit," he said, reflecting chronic divisions in the Arab world on what policy to adopt on the Iraq crisis even as time ran out before threatened US military action.
The Saudi Foreign Minister Mr Saud al-Faisal said there was no need for the February Arab summit on Iraq after last week's Arab ministers' meeting which was marked by rifts over a looming war.
"If that summit does not emerge with a decision concerning the Iraq crisis agreed upon by all Arab states, then it could make matters worse," the Saudi Okaz newspaper quoted Prince Saud as saying about an emergency meeting of Arab leaders that could take place in Egypt on February 28th.
"It is better . . . to make do with this preparatory meeting and to concentrate on making a success of the annual summit to be held in March, while at the same time urging Iraq to co-operate more with UN inspectors," he said. The situation required "credibility and seriousness" from Arabs.
But in Cairo, an Arab League statement quoted the organisation's secretary-general, Mr Mussa, as saying there would definitely be an Arab summit on the Iraq crisis.
"There is Arab consensus on . . . the necessity of holding an Arab meeting on the highest level to discuss the major dangers that encircle the region," the statement quoted him as saying.
An Arab League spokesman said a date for the summit would be announced soon.
In Riyadh, a source at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference said the 56-nation group planned to hold an emergency summit in the Qatari capital Doha in early March to discuss the Iraq crisis.
"We have received word from Qatar that the date of the summit has been set for March 5th and that it will be preceded by a consultative meeting on March 4th," the source said.