Egypt president cancels Arab summit meetings with Syria,Sudan presidents
CAIRO, April 01, 2004 (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak returned to Cairo early Thursday, officials said, after canceling expected meetings at a Sinai peninsula resort city with the Syrian and Sudanese presidents concerning the postponed Arab summit.
No official reason was given for Mubarak’s return to the Egyptian capital from Sharm el-Sheik, where he had held meetings during the past three days with various Arab leaders and officials regarding reconvening the annual Arab summit, which hosts Tunisia postponed last week.
Egyptian presidential officials told reporters that Mubarak’s chief of staff, Zacharia Azmi, had announced that the Egyptian leader would not be holding any meetings in Sharm Thursday and would return to Cairo instead.
While in Sharm, Mubarak has met numerous Arab leaders, including the kings of Jordan and Bahrain and the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah.
He was expected to meet Thursday with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Sudanese leader Omar el-Bashir.
Arab leaders have been frantically trying to reschedule the annual summit, which Tunisia canceled citing deep differences over an agenda designed to address U.S.-backed regional reforms and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have welcomed Mubarak’s offer to hold the summit in Egypt.
But Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib Ben Yahya said President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali still wants to hold the summit.
Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, said he would visit Tunisia Friday to discuss “the time, place and substance” of any upcoming summit.
A high-level American delegation also met Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheik on Wednesday. U.S. calls for more democracy in this region where heads of state often serve for life and societies are tightly controlled had been among the contentious issues Arab leaders were to address at their summit.
Washington’s Greater Middle East Initiative, which has not yet been officially released, urges Arab states to promote democracy, human rights and the status of women. It also encourages the upgrading of educational systems and economic liberalization.
The plan prompted a chorus of Arab complaints of interference in their domestic affairs and calls for homegrown democratic reforms rather than importing Western ideas.