...The absence of five Gulf Arab leaders (click title to entry - thank you) reflects increased Sunni-Shia tensions across the region in the aftermath of last year's Arab Spring uprisings, particularly the one against a regime dominated by a Shiite offshoot sect in Sunni-majority Syria and another by majority Shiites in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, also a Gulf Arab nation.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani, also the country's foreign minister, told Al-Jazeera late Wednesday that his own nation's low level of representation was a "message" to Iraq's majority Shiites to stop what he called the marginalization of minority Sunnis.
Majority Shiites have dominated Iraq since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. The nation's once powerful Sunnis complain that the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is concentrating power in the hands of the Shiites. There is a growing desire by Sunni-majority provinces to win autonomy as a way to escape Shiite domination....
While bombs went off in Iraq during the summit, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia was kidnapped in Yemen. So much for good will.
JEDDAH: The Foreign Ministry (click here) yesterday warned the armed group which kidnapped Saudi diplomat Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Khalidi in front of his house in Aden, Yemen.
Saudi Arabia's deputy consul Abdullah Al-Khalidi, was seized in Mansoora district of Aden as he was about to enter his car.
A ministry source said the group would be held responsible for the captive’s safety and demanded his immediate release.
“The kidnappers will achieve nothing out of this act,” the official said, adding that the Kingdom would take all necessary measures to protect its diplomats and employees.
Saudi Ambassador in Sanaa Ali Al-Hamdan said: "Some signs of a fight were visible in the car owned by the kidnapped diplomat, who apparently showed resistance."...
Blast in Baghdad as Arab summit opens (click here)
Published: 16:15 March 29, 2012
AFP
A blast rocked central Baghdad near the Iranian embassy on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital's heavily-fortified Green Zone as a landmark Arab summit opened Thursday
Baghdad: A blast rocked central Baghdad near the Iranian embassy on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital's heavily-fortified Green Zone as a landmark Arab summit opened Thursday, an AFP journalist said.
"It was a mortar round that landed near the (Iranian) embassy. There are no casualties," though some of the windows of the embassy were broken, a police official said.
The blast was heard at around 1:40 pm (1040 GMT) and took place in the Salhiyeh neighbourhood of central Baghdad. As smoke billowed into the sky, security forces members, military vehicles and firefighters were seen heading to the site of the blast....
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman (click here) expressed Thursday support for efforts to secure a political solution in Syria and reiterated Lebanon’s policy of dissociating itself from developments in its neighbor.
“We reiterate ... our hopes that the tireless efforts and [U.N.-Arab envoy] Kofi Anan reach an agreed political solution to the Syria crisis based on the core of the Arab [League] initiative which would allow for a cessation of all forms of hostilities, and implementation of reforms and a transition to democracy sought for by the Syrians that would restore Syria’s stability, position and role,” Sleiman said during the 23rd round of the Arab Summit in Baghdad....
