The anticipated absence of several Arab leaders from a key conference in Qatar on Monday is highlighting deep divisions among the various members of the Arab League.
The summit, taking place in the Qatari capital Doha, will not be attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as at least five other state leaders. Mubarak is sending a cabinet minister to head the Egyptian delegation in his place.
Qatar has confirmed the participation of 16 states.
Divisions between Arab League countries became more pronounced during Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in January, in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.
Where the operation was seemingly a conflict between Israel and Hamas, it caused wider rifts within the Arab world, pitting what are known as moderate countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia against countries supportive of Hamas such as Syria and Qatar.
During the offensive, Arab countries accused Egypt of exacerbating the situation by failing to open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and expelling Gazans in need of refuge.
Foreign ministers are currently in Doha to pave the ground for the two-day summit.
Arab League Secretary-General ‘Amru Mousa said that despite the differences, participants would nevertheless try to iron out existing tensions between member states.
It was confirmed at a news conference on Saturday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad and Hamas representatives would not be present at the summit.
Among the challenges facing the Arab world are the reconstruction of Gaza, the emergence of a right-wing government in Israel headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, the International Criminal Court indictment against Sudanese President ‘Umar Al-Bashir and Iran’s controversial nuclear program.
Al-Bashir is inclined to attend the conference despite opposition from home. A clerical council issued a religious decree last week banning him from traveling to Doha, even though Qatar is not obliged to turn him in to the authorities.
If he chooses to attend, it will be unannounced, and will primarily be a symbolic move in order to prove to the ICC that he is not worried by the indictment. Al-Bashir has already traveled to Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya since the arrest warrant was issued on March 4.
However, there are still concerns that his plane will be diverted and the president will be taken to a country where he can be arrested.