Abbas to attend AL summit in Tripoli: official

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend the Arab League (AL)'s summit in Libya this month after Egypt brokered a compromise between him and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a Palestinian official said Thursday.

The Palestinian President will join the summit on March 27 " heading a delegation from Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), " said Abbas Zaki, a senior member of Abbas's Fatah party.

Zaki told Xinhua that Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival, is not invited to the summit. "Our Libyan brothers have told me that they will only receive a PLO delegation."

Last month, Abbas visited Libya but Gaddafi did not see Abbas though a meeting between the pair was on the agenda. Abbas had reportedly threatened not to go to the summit until Gaddafi makes an apology.

Pan-Arab newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, reported on Thursday that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman settled the problem and that Gaddafi would accordingly phone Abbas and invite him to the summit without talking about what happened when Abbas was in Tripoli.

Source: Xinhua