Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani said Sunday the Arab Foreign Ministers approved at a preparatory meeting on Saturday, the agenda of the Arab Summit Conference, due to open in Doha on Monday. Addressing a joint press conference with Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said major issues were also discussed including the Palestinian problem and the Mideast peace process, the situation in Sudan, the current Arab situation and means of clearing the Arab atmospheres. The Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said the proposal of convening an emergency summit in Khartoum in solidarity with Sudan needs discussion at the ministerial meeting and that an agreement was reached with the Sudanese minister of state for foreign affairs on the phrase regarding this issue. On the number of the Arab leaders who will attend the Summit, the absence of the Egyptian President and the presence of Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, Sheikh Hamad said he had no idea, but most of the leaders will take part in the summit. He added that he personally went to Sudan and repeated the invitation to President Al Bashir to attend the summit, reaffirming that Qatar welcomes the Sudanese President and all the Arab leaders. Regarding the absence of the Egyptian president, Sheikh Hamad said : We wished that the Egyptian president would take part in the summit in order to contribute with his bright ideas to resolving the Arab complex and chronic issues, but the decision is his and we respect his decision. On the repercussions of the International Criminal Courts (ICC) arrest warrant for the Sudanese President, he said security and peace necessitate that International Criminal Court (ICC) and UN Security Council should reconsider this decision which further aggravates the situation in Darfur and would not lead to resolving this problem, calling on the international community to settle this issue. --MORE
