CAIRO - The Arab League (AL) denied here on Friday that the next Arab summit scheduled in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in March will be postponed due to the unusual circumstances in the Arab world, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The AL secretariat has not received any formal request to postpone the 23rd regular Arab summit, which will be held next month in Baghdad, head of the AL secretary general's office Hesham Youssef was quoted by MENA as saying when commenting on reports alleging delay of the summit. The AL will hold consultations if request on postponement of the summit is put forth, Youssef said, adding the decision of deferring the summit must be made unanimously. Libya, current holder of the Arab summit's rotating presidency, said the next summit will be delayed over the circumstances in the Arab world, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV reported earlier Friday. Arab leaders are expected to gather for an annual summit scheduled for March 29 in Iraq and if held, the summit would be the first one since presidents of Tunisia and Egypt were toppled in popular unrest. Before the summit, Arab foreign ministers are scheduled to meet on March 3 in the headquarters of the AL in Cairo. The last summit was held in Sirte of Libya in March 2010 under Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
