Three weeks after it was called off, the Arab League summit remains the subject of debate across the Arab world. Tunisia -- the upcoming chair of the summit -- said it would be willing to host the Arab leaders in the capital on 22 and 23 May. "Some Arab capitals have approved this date but others have yet to respond," a Cairo-based Tunisian diplomatic source said. He added: "However, Tunis has the approval of the Egyptian president who promised that he would encourage some hesitant leaders. I think we are finally on the right track." President Hosni Mubarak received a call from his Tunisian counterpart Zein Al-Abidine Bin Ali a few days ago to discuss the potential date and venue for the summit. "President Mubarak is offering maximum support for the prompt convocation of the summit, irrespective of the misunderstanding of the past few weeks, and this was made very clear to the Tunisian president," a Tunis-based Egyptian diplomat said. According to current Arab League rules, Arab leaders meet for an annual summit in March either at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo or in the country that is set to chair the summit if it offers to do so. This year, Tunisia -- after much hesitation -- offered to host the summit on 29 and 30 March. However, on 26 March, as Arab foreign ministers were finalising their preparations, Tunis made a unilateral decision to call off the event owing to an alleged lack of preparations and consensus on issues relating to reform. Egypt reacted by offering to hold the summit at the Arab League headquarters. This prompted a reconsideration on the Tunisian side, which is now willing to provide the venue for the summit and is seeking the support of Egypt and the Arab League to secure its convocation. This week, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has been on his third tour of Arab states since the summit was called off to try and gather support for the Tunisian offer. He also sought to secure high-level representation since the expected low turnout by Arab heads of state to the original event is perceived as one of the reasons behind the decision to call off the summit. In Bahrain this week, Moussa convinced the king of Bahrain -- chair of the Arab League summit since March 2003 -- to delegate his prime minister rather than his foreign minister to hand over the presidency of the summit to Tunisia. In Kuwait, Lebanon and Yemen, he also solicited agreement on the position that will be taken by the summit regarding current developments in Palestine and Iraq. Egyptian and Arab diplomats say that recent developments in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict merit a prompt convocation of the summit. "The situation is very, very serious and it would be dramatically wrong for us not to have the summit soon," Moussa said this week. Moussa's work has become much more complicated now than it was a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this month, he had to contain Arab anger prompted by the unilateral Tunisian decision to call off the summit on the eve of the expected arrival of heads of state. This week, Moussa also needs to work to get Arab governments to agree on how far they are prepared to go in voicing condemnation of the United States for its management of the situation in Palestine and Iraq, one which is causing much bloodshed and is in constant violation of international law. The Egyptian leadership is also worried that the convocation of the summit is likely to prove more complicated now than it would have been a couple of weeks ago. "For our part we agreed to go to Tunis despite the big disappointment that we felt with the way the Tunisians dealt with the summit ... We thought that the most important thing is for the summit to convene and for Arab leaders to take decisions on the future of the region," an Egyptian diplomatic source said. Informed Egyptian sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that Mubarak's stated intention of attending the summit wherever it convenes was genuine. "Some advisors suggested that it might [detract from] Egypt's weight as the leading Arab state to agree to a new offer from Tunis to host the summit after the inconsiderate way in which the Tunisian president called off the summit. However, the president insisted that as a leading Arab state, Egypt has to do everything possible to put the summit together ... given the dramatic developments in the region," he added. According to Egyptian and Arab League sources, Mubarak has been offering consistent support to the Arab League secretary-general's efforts to arrange for the convocation of the summit. Supported by several Arab capitals including Riyadh and Damascus, Egypt has nevertheless insisted that the Arab foreign ministers' preparatory meetings for the summit should take place at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League. "We are not going to go to Tunis again and come back without having the summit. The Tunisians should tell us here before we go that all is set for the summit," an Egyptian source said. On the second week of May -- the exact date remains undecided -- Arab foreign ministers and the Arab League secretary-general will meet to prepare for the summit.
