Monitoring Desk
DHAHRAN: Arab leaders opened their annual summit in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran on Sunday.
Sixteen Arab leaders are attending the 29th summit, which comes one day after the U.S., France and Britain launched a joint airstrike in Syria in the wake of a suspected chemical attack by regime forces.
The Syrian conflict, the Palestinian issue and alleged Iranian interference are exp-ected to dominate discussions during the one-day event.
In his opening speech to the summit, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz reiterated that East Jerusalem will remain part of the Palestinian territories.
“The Palestinian cause has been and will always be our main cause until the Palestinians regain their rights,” he said.
“East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories,” he stressed.
Sunday’s summit comes three months after the U.S. officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry. Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel since 1967 — might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Turning to the ongoing conflict in neighboring Yemen, the Saudi king reiterated commitment to Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity.
He underlined his support for efforts aimed at reaching a political solution to the conflict in Yemen, which fell into civil war in 2014 when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa. The Saudi monarch renewed accusations for Iran of supporting terrorism and interfering in Arab affairs.
“We strongly condemn the terrorist acts carried out by Iran in the region and reject its blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Arab countries,” he said.
On Saturday, the umbrella Arab League said the summit will not discuss Gulf crisis, which was triggered by last year’s cut-off of diplomatic ties between four Arab states and Qatar amid accusations for Doha of supporting terrorism.
The last Arab summit was held in Jordan last year. (AA)
Reuters Agency adds: Qatar will not be represented by a senior official at an Arab summit taking place in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, in a sign that a nearly year-old dispute between Gulf Arab neighbours is still a long way from being resolved.
The Qatari delegation will be headed by Doha’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Saif bin Muqaddam al-Buainain, the state news agency said without elaborating.
Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha on Saturday from a U.S. trip where he met President Donald Trump, who had publicly sided with the Saudis and Emiratis early in the crisis, but is now pushing for a resolution to restore Gulf Arab unity and maintain a united front against Iran.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday that Qatar’s crisis would not be on the table at the Arab League summit, Al Arabiya reported. AA
