Lebanese president not to attend Libyan Arab summit

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman will not represent Lebanon at the next Arab summit in Libya, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said on Thursday.

In a statement issued after a cabinet meeting led by Suleiman on Thursday in the presidential palace near Beirut, Mitri said that the Lebanese president "briefed the cabinet on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia."

He added that Suleiman spoke about "his meeting with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, who will not meet him during the next Arab summit because the President is not going to participate in it."

Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said last February that "Lebanon's participation in the Arab summit in Libya is indisputable, but the level of representation depends on the Lebanese situation."

"I understand the stance of a major sector of the Lebanese society; the issue must be taken into consideration," he added.

Moussa was referring to the disappearance of Shiite leader Moussa Sadr in Libya in 1978.

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite politician, called for boycotting the upcoming Arab summit in Libya on March 27, saying that this country remains responsible for Sadr's disappearance.

Source: Xinhua