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‘Historic’ Arab Summit in Terms of Attendance | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Jordan’s King Abdullah II stands next to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a reception ceremony at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. Reuters


Dead Sea (Jordan) – Jordan is hosting on Wednesday a historic Arab League Summit, in terms of the number of leaders and presidents attending the annual meeting.

The 28th ordinary session of the Arab summit will kick off Wednesday in the region of the Dead Sea, in northern Jordan, in the presence of 16 kings and heads of states, while five other countries would be represented by high-ranking officials.

The Palestinian cause and the Syrian crisis would top the agenda of the summit, which will conclude with the issuance of a final statement of 17 points of consensus.

In addition to Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the meeting will be attended by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Moroccan King Mohammed VI, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.

On the presidential level, participants will include Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, and Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, as well as Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and President of the Comoros Islands Azali Assoumani.

Leaders, who will not attend the summit but will be represented by top officials, include Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, head of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iraqi President Fouad Masum.

The head of National Accord Cabinet and Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, will represent Libya, which is considered to be without a president.

As for Syria, while its membership has been frozen, its seat was kept vacant.

International figures present at the Arab leaders’ meeting will include UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Russian President Special Representative and Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa Mikhail Bogdanov, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, as well as a representative of US President Donald Trump and another representative of the French government, in addition to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Frederica Mogherini and other leading figures.