Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, hosting an Arab summit that is supposed to showcase a Saudi plan for Middle East peace, sought to rescue it from collapse today after a Palestinian walkout.
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Palestinian demonstrators call for permission for Mr Arafat to attend the Arab summit in Beirut Photo: Reuters
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The Palestinians quit the morning session in fury over what they said was Mr Lahoud's refusal to let their leader Yasser Arafat address the summit by satellite from his West Bank base.
Mr Lahoud reconvened the meeting after a lengthy delay, saying there had been a "misunderstanding" over Mr Arafat's speech. "I say we are all determined that his speech reach the summit and through it the world," he said. "We agreed with the Palestinians that it should be recorded and then broadcast to the summit because direct transmission would have given Israel the chance to interfere with the speech."
But Palestinian delegates stayed out of the conference hall and one of them said they were waiting for Mr Arafat, prevented by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from attending the summit, to tell them whether they should resume their seats or leave.
The head of the United Arab Emirates delegation earlier left Beirut in solidarity with the Palestinian walkout.
"The summit is heading toward total chaos," UAE Information Minister Abdullah bin Zaid al-Nahayan told Reuters.
"This is an Arab summit, not a Lebanon summit," Farouq al-Kaddoumi, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's political department, said, adding that Mr Lahoud had no right to block Mr Arafat's speech to the Arab leaders.
The row over the Palestinian leader's address, eventually broadcast on the al-Jazeera TV station, threatened to diminish the impact of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's land-for-peace proposal.
The prince asked the summit to back his plan for "normal ties" with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab land and creation of a Palestinian state.
But Syrian President Bashar al-Assad countered with a call for Arab states to back the Palestinian uprising by severing any ties with Israel - a dig at Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries to sign peace treaties with the Jewish state.
Mr Arafat immediately welcomed the Saudi plan.
"The Palestinian leadership confirms that it welcomes the enlightened, brave initiative launched by...Crown Prince Abdullah," he said in his speech. "This initiative, God willing, will turn into an Arab initiative at this summit for the peace of the brave between us and the Israeli and Jewish people."
At one point Prince Abdullah spoke directly to the Israeli people, telling them that "if their government abandons the policy of force and oppression and embraces true peace, we will not hesitate to accept the right of the Israeli people to live in security with the people of the region."
Syrian President Assad, while acknowledging the Saudi plan enshrined long-held Arab positions, stressed that Israel must commit itself publicly to returning all occupied Arab lands.
"Now is the time for action to save the Palestinian people from the massacres, from the new Holocaust, that they are being subjected to," Mr Assad said. He asked Arab states that have relations with Israel to "tell us when these ties can be cut."
It was not clear if Mr Assad's position had any bearing on the last-minute decision of key US allies King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to attend the summit.