Sunni countries shun Arab league summit

Sunnis turn backs on Arab League summit

Sunni Muslim rulers have largely shunned an Arab League summit hosted by Shiite-led Iraq, illustrating how powerfully the sectarian split and the rivalry with Iran define Middle Eastern politics in the era of the Arab Spring.

SMH,

31 March, 2012

The crisis in Syria is the epicentre of those divisions. Thursday's one-day summit closed with a joint call on the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to stop his bloody crackdown on an uprising seeking his ouster. But the final statement barely papered over the differences among the Arab nations over how to deal with the longest-running regional revolt.

''What disturbs the breeze of our Arab Spring and fills our hearts with sadness is the scenes of slaughter and torture committed by the Syrian regime against our brothers and sisters in Syria,'' the leader of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said.

In a snub to Iraq, only 10 heads of state from the Arab League's 22 members attended, with the rest sending lower-level officials.

Especially notable were the absences of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other Persian Gulf countries, as well Morocco and Jordan - all of them headed by Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad's Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran.

The Gulf countries also see Iraq as too soft on Syria. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have talked of arming Syria's opposition, apparently eager to bring the fall of Mr Assad and break the Sunni-majority country out of its alliance with Iran.

Speaking to the gathering, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, urged restraint, saying Baghdad opposed any military intervention and citing his country's years of turmoil as an example of what happens when outside forces get involved in national struggles. US forces left Iraq just over 100 days ago after nearly nine years of war and occupation.

''Iraq is afraid of the attempts to militarise the Arab uprisings, because this will deviate them from the right course and push towards the wrong position,'' he said. ''Dialogue between the government and the opposition is the right option to solve the crisis.''

Iraq's hosting of the annual summit for the first time since 1990 was touted by Baghdad officials as a victory in their efforts to show the country is moving towards stability after years of sectarian fighting that almost tipped the nation into civil war.

The summit was the first since the wave of Arab Spring uprisings began sweeping the region more than a year ago, targeting its long-ruling strongmen.

The summit's final resolution called on Syria to ''immediately implement'' United Nations envoy Kofi Annan's proposals