Thirteen heads of Arab states attended the summit, including Kuwait Amir, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Adly Mansour and Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- Thani. Other states whose heads are absent sent their high-ranking delegations to the summit, Xinhua reported.
Kuwait Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah inaugurated the opening ceremony, urging for closer ties between Arab states.
“This summit was held in difficult circumstances regionally and internationally. So it’s very important to stand united and coordinate our policy for the sake of regional prosperity and security,” he said.
The theme of summit has been set as “Unity for a better Future, ” tasked with confronting many regional issues. The Syria crisis and Palestinian cause are expected to top the agenda.
The summit seeks to hammer out a solution to put an end to the Syria civil war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. But Syria’s seat was vacant because its membership was suspended since 2011.
As to the stalled Palestinian issue, which was listed as the second session of the summit, “it’s been the major challenge in Arab region, we’ll continue to support the Palestinians,” Kuwait Amir said in the opening speech.
Apart from the Syrian crisis and the Palestinian issue, the summit will also discuss terrorism, economic cooperation and Lebanon’s security situation and Egypt’s political progress. Kuwait Declaration, which will relate to political, economic, social, and development issues in Arab, is expected to be released after the summit concludes on Wednesday.
Source: FARS
