By Eyad Khalifa
Albawaba.com – Amman
A meeting by Arab foreign ministers in Amman ahead of Tuesday's Arab summit was underway Sunday afternoon to discuss one item: the Iraqi issue, Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation told reporters.
But the meeting was not attended by Iraqi foreign minister Mohammad Al Sahaf, who said he was to receive Iraqi Vice President Izzat Ibrahim on arrival to Amman to take part in the Tuesday Arab summit.
Observers said that it was only an excuse because Sahhaf who, apparently, did not want to attend the meeting, especially in view of the fact that Ibrahim had arrived earlier in the day.
The meeting had been suspended "because of differences among delegates on finding a consensus on Iraq," reported Al-Jazeera satellite channel.
The ministers were set to meet Sunday morning after they called off the evening session on Saturday as they failed to draft a resolution on the Iraqi issue.
"We decided to cancel our afternoon plenary session to give more time to the ministers to have bilateral meetings to reach consensus on the subject" of Iraq, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail was quoted as saying by AFP.
The ministers instead huddled in small groups for consultations, said AFP.
Thirteen ministers were meeting separately in turn with the Iraqi and Kuwaiti delegates to hear their views and exchange ideas on how to reach a compromise between them, said the agency.
Kuwait is demanding that Iraq formally apologize for invading the emirate in August 1990 and occupying it for six months until Baghdad's troops were driven out by a US-led coalition of Arab and Western forces.
Kuwait also wants guarantees from its partners in the 22-member Arab League that Iraq will never again attack it, delegates to the meetings said.
Iraq insists that its invasion of Kuwait belongs to history and wants Arab countries to concentrate their efforts towards lifting the sanctions imposed on Baghdad by the United Nations a decade ago.
In their opening speeches at Saturday's meeting, the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers, usually outspoken in support of easing the sanctions, avoided the Iraq issue, according to The Associated Press.
A Palestinian official was quoted as saying by Al-Jazeera that Jordanians and Egyptians retracted their stand on Iraq "under US pressure," and are now insisting on implementing UN resolutions.
But Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu-Ragheb, who will lead Jordan's delegation to the summit, was blunt on Iraq, according to The Associated Press.
"The Palestinian issue and the situation between Iraq and Kuwait require that we, as a nation, form a pressure lobby on the international community to stop the aggression on the brotherly Palestinian people and lift the sanctions on Iraq," he said.
Saudi Arabia announced earlier this week that its defense minister would attend the summit of leaders instead of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who has been filling in for his ailing brother King Fahd in international and regional gatherings.
Arab diplomats said Saudi Arabia is sending a clear message that it does not want to see the summit turned into a platform for Iraqi leaders airing anti-Saudi and anti-Kuwait sentiments, said the AP.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal denied the reports, saying that his country was committed to "everything that will strengthen Arab solidarity."
According to AP, Oman and Kuwait are also expected to be represented by lower-level government delegates.
Outside a conference hall where the ministers' meeting took place, Kuwaiti State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al Salem Al Sabah walked into a reception area and shook hands with some of his counterparts on one side of the room but ignored the other side, where the Iraqi foreign minister stood, the AP added.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will address a "historic letter" to the summit, the official Iraqi news agency reported from Baghdad without giving details of the message, said AFP.
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