"I have not received any official invitation, through the recognized channels, (burrrp)" Zebari told AFP. "This today proves that we had never received an invitation from the host country. This asserts that we had not received a clear and direct invitation," he said.
"This is not an invitation," he stressed.
"It seems that some neighbouring countries did not want Iraq to participate in the meeting," Zebari said, without elaborating.
Asked why Damascus failed to invite Baghdad to the summit to discuss the regional impact of the growing violence in Iraq, Zebari said: "You can ask the Syrian government."
"This is a meeting about Iraq and Iraq's voice is absent. So, this meeting does not serve the interests of Iraq and we are not concerned by the decisions and recommendations that could come out of that meeting," he said.
"If someone tells you at nearly one in the morning (2200 GMT) that he invites you to Damascus where the meeting starts the next day at 10 in the morning (0700 GMT), it means that this is not an invitation," he added.
Syria initially left Zebari off the guest list because of its continued misgivings about the legitimacy of his US-installed administration.
But at the insistence of US allies Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Damascus agreed Friday night to extend a hasty invitation to Baghdad, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Boushra Kanafani.
While the 11th hour olive branch staved off a boycott threat by Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, it was not enough to persuade Zebari to head to the Syrian capital.
"A few of us -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan -- don't see the logic of a meeting without Iraq, especially since it was called for by Syria to discuss Iraq," a senior Arab official had told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Late Saturday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher told AFP that the foreign ministers had invited Baghdad to participate the formal summit on Sunday.
"We had a consultative meeting in Damascus today and decided to extend an invitation to Iraq to join our group," Moasher said.
"Accordingly the Iraqi foreign minister was contacted by the Kuwaiti foreign minister on behalf of the group and invited to come to the meeting which will officially start tomorrow," he added.
"The Iraqi foreign minister answered that he will communicate this message to the Governing Council and will recommend participation and the final decision will be made tomorrow," the Jordanian minister had said.
Formal talks had been expected to start Saturday night, despite the tensions over Iraq's absence, delegates to the two-day summit told AFP earlier.
Zebari initially intended to join the talks to press the Arab, Iranian and Turkish ministers for tougher action to stem an alleged influx of foreign militants into his country, which Washington holds responsible for the persistent violence still plaguing Iraq.
The past week has seen the worst bloodshed since US troops entered Baghdad in April, with a wave of car-bombings in the Iraqi capital prompting a host of foreign missions to withdraw or downscale their staff, undermining the post-war reconstruction effort.
The Syrian-hosted summit is being attended by the Turkish, Egyptian, Jordanian, Iranian, Kuwait and Saudi ministers.
