Jordanian king will boycott the Damascus summit

by **Admin** Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:03 am

As expected Jordanian king Abdullah Bin Hussein will boycott the Damascus summit and Jordan will send a low level delegation headed by lower level delegation the Jordanian government announced Tuesday.

The "Jordanian delegation will be either headed by Jordan's Foreign Minister Salah Eddin Al-Bashir or the Minister of State for Information Nasser Jawdat." The statement said.

Jordanian king's decision to boycott the summit in Damascus scheduled for March 29, 30 was expected after the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian leaders decided to skip it.

Most analysts are linking the absence of some of the Arab leaders to Syria's lack of cooperation regarding the election of the President of Lebanon.

Many analysts predict that as many as half the Arab leaders will skip the summit in protest against Syria's behavior with regards to Lebanon.

The Lebanese cabinet is currently in session to discuss whether to participate or boycott the summit, but according to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora 's adviser Lebanon will most likely boycott the forthcoming Arab summit in Damascus due to the current presidential crisis.

"Lebanon's absence is a statement that this is not a normal state of affairs," Ambassador Mohammad Chatah said.