Last update - 18:17 20/08/2006 Syrian FM boycotts Arab League meeting Sunday in Cairo By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and AP
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem will boycott the meeting of Arab League foreign ministers set to take place Sunday afternoon in Cairo, the Arab media reported.
Some believe that one of the reasons for Moallem's absence is his opposition to the moderate stance taken by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who, when Syria was seeking support for Hezbollah, described the group's actions against Israel, in particular the abduction of the two soldiers, as "adventurism."
Another cause for the inter-Arab tension is a speech last week by Syrian Bashar Assad, in which he accused the Lebanese government of being collaborators with Israel.
Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a member of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's party, said in response that Assad's statements were testimony that the Syrian president had "returned to his old habits - murder and threatening murder."
At their last meeting, shortly after the outbreak of war last month, the Arab foreign ministers traded barbs over whether Hezbollah bore any responsibility for the escalation in violence that followed its capture of the two IDF soldiers.
The Saudi foreign minister appeared to be leading a camp of ministers criticizing the guerrilla group's actions, calling them "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts."
"These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them," Saudi al-Faisal told his counterparts.
Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.