The 30th Arab Summit lunches in Tunis

Apr 01 2019

ARK News: The 30th Arab Summit in Tunis was launched in the presence of a number of Arab leaders.

The summit, to be held in Tunis on Sunday, will be the first time Saudi and Qatari leaders have met in the same meeting since a political and economic boycott of Doha by its leaders in 2017.

Member states of the League of Arab States (LAS) are still deciding where to hold next year's summit, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Sunday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Algeria's Abdul Aziz Bouteflika are absent from the summit amid protests against their governments in the two countries.

"There are discussions being held among several states, but a final decision has not been made yet. However, I can confirm, that next year, the [LAS] summit will either take place the country where LAS is headquartered or in a country which will want to host such a meeting", Gheit said at a news conference following the summit.

Upon the conclusion on Sunday of this year's LAS summit in Tunisia, the location for next year's summit was not announced. Usually, top officials that take part in such summits, upon the conclusion of the conference, agree on a place to hold the next meeting.

Qatari Emir Suddenly Leaves 30th Arab League Summit in Tunisia

In addition, the country that hosted the summit will usually chair the conference the following year. The Arab League's headquarters are in Cairo, Egypt.

The 30th LAS summit took place in Tunis, Tunisia on Sunday. The conference's agenda included discussion on the ongoing conflict in Yemen, the national political crisis in Libya, the settlement of Syria and US President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli territory, despite international law stating the opposite.

The summit comes as Algeria and Sudan are facing political unrest and Arab countries face international pressure from the war in Yemen and divisions sparked by Iran's influence in the Middle East.
US recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights is expected to dominate the summit, officials said.

Arab states have not reached a decision yet on Syria's return to the Arab League, and officials said the issue was not on the agenda of the summit.

Source: Agencies

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