BEIRUT (voa) – A two-day Arab League summit opens Wednesday in Beirut, Lebanon, without three key figures – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Palestinian officials say Mr. Arafat rejected Israeli pre-conditions for him to travel abroad.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the Plaestinian leader must declare a cease-fire to end nearly 18 months of violence. Mr. Sharon also said the United States should guarantee that Israel could prevent Mr. Arafat from returning to the Palestinian territories if terrorist attacks occurred during his absence.
The United States, which pressured Israel to allow Mr. Arafat to attend the summit, says it hopes the Beirut meeting will focus on a Saudi initiative for peace in the region, despite Mr. Arafat’s absence.
Mr. Arafat plans to address summit participants via a satellite-television hook-up.
The Beirut summit is expected to endorse the Saudi initiative that calls for normalizing relations between Arab nations and Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from all land occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.
Egyptian officials say President Mubarak decided not to attend the summit because of “domestic problems.” However, diplomats are quoted as saying the Egyptian leader was angry the United States, in his view, did not do enough to ensure Mr. Arafat’s presence at the summit.
Lebanese officials say Jordan’s King Abdullah made a last-minute decision not to attend the summit. They say no reason was given for the monarch’s decision to send Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb to lead the Jodanian delegation.
The heads of several Arab states, the United Nations and the European Union are among those attending the Arab League summit.
