Cairo — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that the postponement of a summit of Arab leaders scheduled for Monday was unwarranted and urged that the meeting be held within three weeks.
The summit was indefinitely postponed Saturday by host Tunisia because of deep divisions over how to bring more democracy to the Middle East. It was to have dealt with proposals for reforms in response to U.S. calls for greater freedoms in the region.
“There is no justification for delaying the summit, and for one party imposing its views unilaterally without consulting others,” Mr. Mubarak told Orbit television in an interview that was published Monday in the Egyptian press.
He discussed the new bid to hold a summit with the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo on Monday, Egypt's semiofficial Middle East News Agency reported.
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In the interview, Mr. Mubarak said he would also discuss the matter with the King of Bahrain, who was scheduled to arrive in Egypt later Monday. Bahrain holds the rotating chair of the Arab summit.
“I think there is no problem with holding it within two or three weeks. Everybody is waiting for the summit,” Mr. Mubarak told the Saudi-owned satellite channel.
In Amman on Monday, Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khader said the proposed date for the summit was April 16, but it has not been confirmed.
Tunisia suddenly announced late Saturday that the summit had been indefinitely postponed as the preparatory meetings of foreign ministers had revealed unbridgeable differences. The division concerned how to respond to a U.S. plan for democratic reform in Arab states and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Sunday morning, Egypt offered to hold a summit as soon as a date could be agreed. The rules of the 22-nation Arab League allow Egypt, as the site of the league's headquarters, to convene a summit if the scheduled host is unable to.
Several countries welcomed Egypt's move, but Tunisia protested, saying it should still be host for the next summit.
“If the (Arab) presidents want to meet again in Tunisia, I have no objection,” Mr. Mubarak said. “We're not imposing anything on anyone. We just want to salvage the situation.”
It is rare that Mr. Mubarak pointedly criticizes a fellow Arab government in public, but in the interview he said: “I couldn't believe that a summit could be simply cancelled without consultation with others. I was shocked by that.”
“An unpleasant statement was issued” by the Tunisians, he added, “and we don't want to get into argument for the sake of argument.”
Asked about the differences that emerged in the ministerial meetings, Mr. Mubarak said that if he had heard of the problems, “I would have gone to Tunisia, and we would have been able to overcome what happened and found solutions to the disputes.
“The summit has to succeed.”
Despite the cancellation, Mr. Mubarak sounded upbeat.
“I tell the Arab people that there is always great hope. We shouldn't lose hope at all. There is no problem that hasn't a solution,” he said.
Egypt is the most populous Arab country and has traditionally been viewed as the leader of the Arab world.
