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The Libyan leader, Col. Mummar Gaddafi has walked out of an Arab league summit in a row over its agenda.The gesture was a further blow to the Tunis metting which was cancelled in March over a disagreement over reforms.'Libya sees itself forced to boycott the summit because it does not agree with the agenda,' Col. Gaddafi said.The Arab league meeting is due to disuss the occupation of Iraq-including prisoner abuse-as well as the Israeli -Palestinian conflict.Col. Gaddafi walked out of the conference hall in Tunis during a speech by Arab league Secretary General Amr Moussa.Diplomats said Gaddafi was apparently annoyed...

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) - Arab leaders meeting at an annual summit Saturday were united in outrage over the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, according to draft resolutions that also condemned terrorism and reiterated calls for Arab-Israeli peace. Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, a major player in the Middle East, and Moammar Gadhafi of Libya were among those who arrived just before Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali opened the session. The Arabs "look forward to results that would rise to their ambitions of cooperation and solidarity," Ben Ali said to open the meeting of Arab kings, emirs, presidents, prime...

TUNIS, Tunisia -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi threatened to pull his country out of the Arab League on Saturday after withdrawing from the opening session of the annual Arab summit. Speaking at a news conference shortly after he walked out of the opening session of the summit in Tunis, Gadhafi did not say flatly that he was pulling out, a threat Libya has made before, accusing the 22-member organization of being ineffective.

Amman — Leaders of the world's 22 Arab countries gather today, anxious to develop their own reform program for the Middle East before U.S. President George W. Bush rolls out his proposals to overhaul the region's political scene. Many Arab politicians are insulted by Mr. Bush's plans to unveil his so-called Greater Middle East Initiative, a strategy to promote political and economic change in the region, at the Group of Eight meeting in June at Sea Island, Ga. They feel any changes must be driven from within. At the same time, they say they understand the need for the overhaul...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Arab leaders will endorse greater participation by their people in running their nations' affairs - but aren't spelling out how, according to a draft proposal for the Arab League summit this month in Tunisia. The five-page proposal, agreed to Monday by Arab foreign ministers and obtained by The Associated Press, is short on specifics. However, it pledges to respect human rights and freedom of expression, enhance the position of women and promote tolerance. It says the leaders' aim is "more progress on the course of political, economic, social and cultural development for our countries." The proposal...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers Monday endorsed the concept of democracy and human rights in a document prepared for an Arab summit expected to take place in Tunis this month, the Algerian foreign minister said. Abdelaziz Belkhadem told reporters after three days of talks at Arab League headquarters that the document also called for an independent judiciary and promoting civil society, and covered the status of women in the Arab world. "The most important features of the draft declaration is that it asserts the need to develop the Arab system of government and civil society ... in the field...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Under extraordinary secrecy - even paper was banned to avoid leaks - Arab foreign ministers hoping to revive a summit of their leaders tried Saturday to find common ground on Israel, Iraq and U.S.-proposed reforms. But Jordan's foreign minister went public, holding a news conference and urging Arab nations to do more to advance the peace process with Israel, telling them not to wait for Israeli concessions before drafting some of their own. The 22-member Arab League summit, scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March, was postponed at the last minute because of disagreements among...

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites), trying to revive last month's postponed Arab summit, said Sunday the leaders should meet in May and that he doesn't care where they gather. Tunisia, the host of this year's March 29-30 meeting of the Cairo-based Arab League, called off the gathering 48 hours before it was to begin, citing disagreements among members on key agenda items such as a U.S. reform plan for the region and a 2-year-old Arab peace initiative for Israel. Mubarak received Syrian President Bashar Assad and Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir in Cairo on Sunday...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah met in an Egyptian seaside resort Wednesday as Arab leaders struggled to resolve differences and reschedule the Arab summit that collapsed in Tunisia. On Monday, President Hosni Mubarak, who often works out of Sharm el-Sheik during the winter and spring, met here with Bahrain's King Hamad. Tuesday, his guest was Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa. A visit by King Abdullah II of Jordan also was expected and one by Syrian President Bashar Assad hasn't been ruled out. Other Arab leaders were reportedly consulting by telephone. A high-level American...

Foreign ministers of Arab League nations have been unable to agree on political reforms in the Middle East. Arab officials say formulating a reform plan for the Middle East is closely linked to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to reporters after two days of preliminary sessions with Arab foreign ministers, the host of the Arab summit, Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib bin Yahia, said the ministers are continuing discussions about how to implement comprehensive reform in Arab world. He says the proposal should include social, political and economic reforms. The ministers met in Tunis to lay the groundwork for...

The cancellation of the annual Arab League summit, which was to have begun on Monday, has sent fresh shockwaves through the Arab world. The Tunisian hosts, who, as the holders of the rotating presidency, had the right to set the meeting's agenda, were determined to put democracy and political reform at the top of it. Most of the member states rebelled, demanding the usual parade of "Arab unity", ritual condemnations of Israel, and an opportunity to organize authoritarian resistance to the reform pressure coming from Washington. The Tunisians responded unilaterally, saying, in effect, "We won 't do that any...

Most of the time, Arab states shroud their quarrels in the counterfeit rhetoric of unity. However, as yesterday's last-minute cancellation of the Arab League summit in Tunis showed, it's tough to play that game when it comes time to make good on the speechifying. The decision by Tunisia to cancel the two-day conference, scheduled to begin today, was the top story in virtually all the Arab world's dailies. Lebanon's English-language Daily Star headlined its story "Summit Postponement Reflects Regional Disarray." In its headline, Saudi Arabia's daily Al-Riyadh highlighted, "Arab Condemnation of the Tunisian Decision," and added, "Egypt Proposes Hosting the...

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) - Egypt offered Sunday to host a summit of Arab leaders, trying to resurrect a meeting that collapsed because of deep divisions over how to bring more democracy to the Middle East and tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arab League leaders had planned to use the summit, which was slated to start Monday, to submit proposals for political reforms in response to U.S. calls for greater freedoms in the region. Many of the most powerful countries in the Middle East are led by absolute rulers or royal families. But Israel's March 22 assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed...

TUNIS, March 28 — Arab governments were in disarray on Sunday after the Arab League summit meeting, set to grapple with vital regional issues like democratic reform, Arab-Israeli bloodshed and the American occupation of Iraq, was abruptly called off just before it was to open Monday. Advertisement The exact reason is a matter of some dispute, but all sides viewed the meeting's collapse — even as some heads of state were on their way — as an embarrassment. It was a stark public admission that the commitment to change voiced by Arab leaders risks becoming just more words. The Arab...

Commentary by the Tunis Afrique Presse Agency concerning the postponement of Arab Summit Tunis, 27 March 2004 (TAP)-- At a time when the Arab realities do not really need any description, in view of the numerous crises facing the Arab world and the requirements and challenges that must be taken up by all Arab countries, and after having mobilized all its political, material and human capacities to host the Arab Summit and to ensure its success and the adoption of decisions that respond to the aspirations of the Arab peoples who look forward to the Tunis Summit to constitute a...

An official source at the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed surprise at the attempts by some parties to ignore the real causes of the postponement of the Arab Summit, which was due mainly to the deep divergence of views on issues of substance and crucial choices that are closely connected to the aspirations of Arab citizens and the future of the Arab Nation. Some of these issues pertain to modernization and reform in our Arab countries for the purpose of consolidating democratic progress, protecting human rights, consolidating the status of women and the role of civil society, on the...

Riyadh Summit: From Opposition to ResignationApr 21, 2003 Summary Officials from countries neighboring Iraq, as well as from Egypt, met in Riyadh over the weekend to discuss the future of the Middle East. The shift in the atmosphere from the pre-war period was striking: There was deep unease with the U.S. victory in Iraq, but there appeared to be even more unease with confronting the United States too openly. Everyone was careful to hold their positions without irritating the powerful, unpredictable giant in their midst. Analysis On Friday, April 18, the foreign ministers of all countries bordering on Iraq...

Feb. 24, 2003 Syria, Lebanon support Iraqi call for delaying Arab summit By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Iraq picked up support Monday from neighboring Syria to postpone a summit of Arab leaders that is to focus on the US-Iraq crisis but has deeply divided members of the 22-nation Arab League. "Syria supports the Iraqi request to postpone the Arab summit because this will give Arabs more time to think about the best way to deal with the situation," Youssef al-Ahmed, Syria's ambassador to the League said in a statement. "It will also help to reach a unified Arab position." Al-Ahmed said...

DUBAI: Notwithstanding the deterioration of the Middle East crisis in recent days, last week's Arab summit in Beirut proved to be a success at least on one count - Iraq. While the summit's final statement "categorically" rejected a military strike against Baghdad, bigger gains came by way of a well-orchestrated series of diplomatic coups that President Saddam Hussein's regime unfolded in the presence of 22 countries in Beirut. First, in the face of US threats, Iraq sought to consolidate reconciliation efforts with its Gulf neighbours by pledging in writing, for the first time, never to repeat its 1990 invasion of...

And you never thought that Arabs could do things efficiently! It took the Arabs to stage a three-ring circus with only one ring! The huge ringed table with all the sheiks in their bed sheets sitting around it was the best circus in town -- or at least in any town where they don't admit Jews. This bunch was the nastiest looking group of grownups sitting around a table since Frank Nitti presided over meetings of the Mafia (they also probably would not let a Jew join) on the TV show "The Untouchables." These Arab leaders, not one of whom...